“An
army man followed my daughter into washroom that forced her to scream
for help. But J&K Police pressurized her to give a statement in
defence of the army,” said the mother of Handwara schoolgirl who was
allegedly molested by an army man on Tuesday that lead to protests and
killing of five civilians in army and police firing.
The mother of the victim was addressing a press conference here which was organized by J&K Coalition of Civil Society.
“The authorities prevented us from organizing the press conference
at our office by blocking the entry to our office with concertina
wires,” said an official of J&K CCS adding that large contingent of
force was deployed outside the office.
Later addressing the media outside J&K High Court, the mother
said her daughter is 16 year old and a minor under law. “She was alone
in Police Station Handwara when her statement was recorded. She was
pressurized by the police to give statement in favor of army. Her
statement was filmed and later leaked by them (police),” she said.
“My daughter had screamed (in the washroom), catching the attention
of people in the main chowk who then protested against the army,” she
said adding that later army and police killed innocent people.
“Those who were killed are my beloved,” she said adding that
government would never inquire into the killings. “They have been doing
the same in the past; they kill Kashmiris and then justice is never
delivered.”
She said her daughter was taken to police station without their
knowledge. “They (police) put words in her mouth,” the mother said. “We
have approached court and demanded an independent inquiry into the
incident.”
The mother said that they have not been allowed to meet the victim
since Tuesday. “They took my husband and sister to Police Station. They
too were detained and there are no whereabouts of my family members
now,” she said and accused police of defaming her daughter by revealing
her identity.
Pertinently, after Tuesday's protests by locals who alleged that
the girl had been molested by army, the army had released a video of the
girl's statement to the police. The statement didn't mention anything
about molestation.