Kin of Delhi cops injured at student protest speak out
What's the story
The families of Delhi Police officers injured during the recent student protest at Jantar Mantar have spoken out about the ordeal their loved ones suffered during the agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The families screened videos of attacks on police personnel at a news conference in New Delhi and said the demonstration had been infiltrated by anti-social elements. They argued that their suffering had been eclipsed by reports of police excesses toward students.
Family
'My father'suniform was completely soaked in blood'
Speaking at the conference, a daughter of an officer claimed that her father, a sub-inspector, was "almost lynched."
"My father was at the main protest site. He was on the frontline, near the barricades. Every night when he came home, he would tell us that it no longer looked like a student protest and that many anti-social elements had joined it," she said.
She also recalled how her father was brought home by colleagues, with his uniform "soaked in blood."
Family's ordeal
Father was a Marine Commando
"Around 10:00pm that night, my father's colleagues brought him home and his uniform was completely soaked in blood. Seeing him like that was extremely painful for us," she said.
The family also alleged social media narratives painted protesters as victims, saying when she opened her social media, she saw her father being portrayed as a criminal.
She added that her father was a Marine Commando before joining the Delhi Police and "had never spoken negatively about students despite the attack."
Second account
Helmet completely shattered, wife of another ASI said
Seema, the wife of another injured Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector, also spoke about her husband's injuries.
Seema recalled her husband telling her that anti-social elements had infiltrated the protest and attacked police personnel with various objects.
"They attacked police personnel with flower pots, slippers, shoes, stones and whatever they could find," she alleged.
"The helmet issued to him during duty was completely shattered," she said, adding that if the stone had hit his head directly, it could have been fatal.
Social media criticism
Families slam online narratives on violence
Lakshya Singh Mehta, son of another injured Assistant Sub-Inspector, also spoke out against social media's one-sided portrayal of the violence.
"Whenever I go online, I see only derogatory comments against the police. Nobody talks about our side," he said.
He said his father told him the protesters "were rowdies and aggressors using the opportunity to create chaos."
"Stone-pelting started without any provocation...He was trying to move senior officers to a safer place when a stone hit his head," he alleged.
Police statement
No legal action against protesters
The Delhi Police on Thursday clarified that no legal action will be taken against protesters unless they have a criminal background.
The order was issued after the Supreme Court ordered that no coercive action be taken against the protesters with no criminal record.
It also directed the Delhi government to provide proper medical treatment to the individuals allegedly injured by the use of pellet guns during the protest.