A video that purportedly showed a police officer kicking a woman, who was protesting after two missing men from Kulgam were found dead in recent days, has led to outrage in the Kashmir Valley and allegations of police “highhandedness” being raised in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
The J&K Police said it has taken cognisance and initiated an inquiry into the incident.
The video purportedly showed a policeman kicking a woman protester demanding an inquiry into the deaths of the two men and the disappearance of another.
Three men from Devsar in south Kashmir’s Kulgam had gone missing last month. On Thursday, the police recovered the body of one of the three from the Vaishaw stream, and on Sunday, the body of another was found. The third remains missing. The victims’ families alleged that they were murdered.
Later on Sunday, mourners protested and demanded that an inquiry be conducted. The woman protester was allegedly kicked during this.
As the video went viral, it attracted sharp reactions from political leaders in the Valley.
“Shocking and unbecoming for a policeman to kick a woman only because she was peacefully protesting against the mysterious deaths in Devsar, Kulgam. It is this highhanded behaviour from those expected to uphold the law that creates a trust deficit, alienating people even further. Request J&K Police to look into this immediately,” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti posted on X.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
