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Now, Handwara girl says cops harassed her

Addressing a press conference, the girl, whose complaint of molestation led to protests and firing in the region, claimed that police abused her and one of the cops spat on her while she was in police station.

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Handwara witnessed massive clashes between the police and locals on April 12 after the news of a girl being molested by an army soldier spread.

The teen was under police protection for 27 days until the high court last Thursday ruled against it, based on her parents’ plea that she doesn’t require government security.

“When I came out from the washroom, an army man held my hand”.

The girl accused a policeman – whom she identified as Mohammad Shafi Watali – of dragging her to the police station from the market. “I and my family members were abused, intimidated and harassed by police during the detention”. She sought registration of a case against him for “recording and circulating” the video.

Further, she said her video was recorded by Handwara superintendent of police Ghulam Jeelani and the statement was given under “distress and pressure”. “I didn’t say anything and was crying”, she said.

“Police told me not give my original statement, they said that will be safe for my family, ” the 16-year-old girl alleged.

In the video after violent protests engulfed the small town and five people were killed, the girl said she was assaulted by local youth and did not mention the involvement of any soldier. After a long time, a woman police constable took me to a room and left after a while.

“In the morning of April 16, a policeman told me and my father that we have to give a statement as per his instructions before the court”.

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The victim said then she narrated the whole incident to three police men who had covered faces. She said that her family was not informed that she had been taken to a police station. “He was in the uniform”, said the Class 12th student, who has moved an application before the police to lodge an FIR against the soldier. The counsel for the girl had claimed last month that her statement before the chief judicial magistrate was not voluntarily and that she was pressured to testify as directed by the police.

A masked protester throws back an exploded tear gas shell at Indian policemen during a protest in Srinagar on April 12