Unrest prevailed at Mumbai Bagh protest after several agitating women claimed that they had been manhandled by police personnel on Friday morning.
Mumbai: Women protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Mumbai Bagh in Nagpada area of south Mumbai have accused the city police of using force and attacking them late at night after they had fallen asleep.
The protesters claimed that the police had objected to a temporary shade put up by them at the protest site. The police, however, denied the allegation.
Angry demonstrators blocked the busy Nagpada junction for several hours.
The protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens, and National Population Register, which began on the night of January 26, entered its 39th day on Friday. The agitation is being conducted on a relay basis by women from all over the city.
The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when some protesters put up a tarpaulin shade to protect themselves from the sun, a protester said. Women claimed that the shade was for those who had been suffering from heatstroke and other ailments.
The police personnel, who were deployed at the site, took objection and tried removing the shade, following which a heated argument ensued and some protesters were manhandled, she alleged.
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The women allege that male police constables too were present and one of them, particularly, was very violent. “We were touched improperly and pushed around by the men. They were not in their police uniform, so we don’t even know if they were really cops,” said a woman in her 50s to the Wire. Her left hand has been injured in the incident.
The police, however, denied the allegation, saying they had examined the video footages from the site and the incident has not been confirmed as yet.
Several videos which went viral on WhatsApp show women saying they had been assaulted and their modesty outraged by policemen in plain clothes. A video also shows a few women lying on the ground, apparently unconscious.
The protesters alleged that the outrage was carried out on an order by senior police inspector Shalini Sharma, Nagpada police station.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III) Abhinash Kumar said, “We are assessing the footage of the incident. It appears that the women fell as a result of the argument, but if there are any excesses committed by the police, action will be taken.”
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