The Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, an advocacy group, alleged on Thursday that the police and army violated several laws and mishandled the sexual harassment case involving a girl in Handwara, which led to major protests in the area and left four people dead. Clashes broke out after the girl accused an army official of molesting her, though later, in a video purportedly shot by the police, she said that some locals had assaulted her.
In a press release, the rights group claimed the girl was kept at the police station for more than two days. Further, the release says, the girl's father was called to the police station in the middle of the night on Wednesday, and their family has not been allowed access to them since. This, the group claims, is "outside the powers of the State and appears to be an attempt to further pressurise the family to withdraw all allegations against the armed forces".
Demanding the immediate release of the girl and her father, the statement adds that the state "is ensuring that all access to the family of the victim is denied so as to ensure protection to the armed forces personnel and seek to further distract from the crimes that have been committed – from the sexual assault to the killings".
The release also points out that the girl's identity was disclosed in the video, "which was widely circulated by the army and Indian media", a violation of the rights of minor victims of sexual assault.
Over the past few days, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met senior leaders, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, to discuss the violence in the state. She also asked security forces to exercise restraint while dealing with protestors.
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