KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Mother of Handwara episode student girl has said that her daughter, who is just 16 years old, has given the “statement under pressure”. The “statement” was part of the video that army owned after 24 hours of its circulation on social websites.
The alleged molestation by the soldiers led to massive protests in which, so far, five persons were killed – two of them instantly in Handwara, one in Langate and two in Kupwara.
“My daughter was taken by police same day,” the lady told in an interview with a TV channel. “Later, that night they rang us up and said we can send males to the police station; then her father and her aunt went to the police station and are still with her.”
The lady, saying she has a disk problem and lacks any contact with her daughter or her husband.
After two persons were shot dead on Tuesday afternoon in the ensuing clashes over alleged molestation, a mysterious video went viral on social media in which the victim girl spoke about the incident. The video appeared on the YouTube and soon after questions were raised about its ownership, it was removed.
The army next day, Wednesday morning, issued a statement authenticating the video. The girl in the video talks about “no molestation”.
“She is under pressure from the police. She is a young girl, just 16 years old,” the mother told the TV channel. “She gave the statement under pressure… she has been in custody for 5 days. We are not allowed to meet her.”
The police have said that the girl and the father are in preventive custody. J&K High Court, in response of a writ petition filed by her mother, has asked police to declare under which law and authority the members of the victim family were detained.
Asked about the incident that triggered the entire crisis, the lady says in the interview that after using the washroom when her daughter came out, she saw a soldier and screamed. She said she lacks any more details.
