Man, whose mask slipped, beaten severely by cops in MP
What's the story
A shocking incident has come to the fore where a 35-year-old man was severely beaten up by two policemen in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, allegedly for not wearing a face mask properly. The incident took place in Firoz Gandhi Nagar under the Pardesipura Police Station area of the city. Both the accused cops have since been suspended. Here are more details on this.
Details
A video of the incident has gone viral
In a purported video, that has surfaced on social media, two police personnel can be seen kicking and punching Krishna Keyer, an autorickshaw driver, as he vainly tried to protect himself. His teenaged son, who was accompanying him, kept screaming for help. The assault took place in the middle of a road and while many looked on, nobody came forward to help him.
Twitter Post
Trigger warning: The video could be disturbing
Policemen in Indore brutally beating a man for not wearing a mask (which he should) while his child cries, pleading infront of the cops. @ChouhanShivraj will your shameless policemen do the same to PM Modi or BJP leaders who say "no need to wear mask"?
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) April 6, 2021
pic.twitter.com/8Ilo7HmLzg
Details
Keyer was reportedly on his way to meet ailing father
Reportedly, Keyer's mask had slipped down his nose when he was on his way to meet his ailing father in a hospital. However, two policemen caught him on the road and asked him to come to the police station. When he refused, they started beating him. The cops - Kamal Prajapat and Dharmendra Jat - were later identified, suspended, and sent to Police Lines.
Police's claims
Keyer already facing cheating cases, police says
The police, on the other hand, said that the man first assaulted and abused the constables in question, PTI reported. The man also allegedly grabbed the collar of one of the cops. Another police official was quoted as saying that Keyer was already facing cheating and extortion cases in the city. Meanwhile, the City Superintendent of Police has been asked to probe the matter.
Quote
The policemen didn't listen: Victim's son
"My father was badly beaten up because his mask was below his chin. They [policemen] did not listen to me (sic)," Keyer's son said. Recently, there have been several reports of policemen resorting to corporal punishment in case people were found violating COVID-19 protocols.
Situation
The COVID-19 situation in India
The incident has come as the Centre and several state governments have ordered the enforcement of safety measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, that has been rising sharply across India. In fact, the country on Tuesday reported more than 1.1 lakh fresh infections, the biggest single-day spike since the outbreak, taking the nationwide tally to over 1.28 crore.