‘Police pinned me to ground, broke my bangles’: Mother of RG Kar victim ‘injured’ in lathicharge during protest, hospitalised

The victim’s mother claimed that her “Shankha and pola” (bangles which Bengali married women wear) broke during the police lathicharge.

“Police tried to block us by putting up barricades. Why are you scared of us? We have no weapons, we just came here to seek justice for my daughter,” the mother said.

“Police pinned me to the ground. They broke my ‘shankha’ (traditional conch shell bangle) and I suffered an injury on my forehead,” the victim’s mother alleged.

“The parents have not been detained. There is no allegation of the parents being injured during the lathi charge. If any allegations come then we will certainly look into them,” DC (Port) Harikrishna Pai told mediapersons.

After she was injured, the victim’s mother was taken to a hospital and after primary observation and treatment, she was admitted. According to the hospital sources, she is now stable. “She has a haematoma (closed wound where blood collects) on the forehead. A CT scan will be done to assess the extent of both internal and external injuries and also whether she has any internal haemorrhage or not,” a hospital official said.

“The condition of the father is comparatively better. He will not be admitted but he will accompany his wife,” a hospital source said.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said, “She will be kept in observation and a CT scan will be done. She was crying and trying to talk but I did not. I think she is feeling ashamed that she was beaten up for asking for justice for her daughter.”

On hearing about the victim’s mother’s injury, the protesting junior doctors including Asfaqullah Nayiya, Debashish Halder and others went to see her.

“We did not meet her because she is not well now,” Halder said.

“This administration always tries to only stop any protest movement by using force. Earlier, they did so with us also. We did not support this Nabanna Abhiyan. Thus, we did not take part but how can police lathicharge on a peaceful demonstration? It is not acceptable,” Asfaqullah said.

Another rally – ‘Kalighat Chalo’ – was organised by Abhaya Mancha and other a-political organisations but it was also blocked at the Hazra More on Saturday evening.

Sabina Yasmin – the mother of nine-year-old Tamanna Khatun who died in an alleged crude bomb attack during a TMC rally at Kaliganj in June this year – was also present in the rally.

“I also did not get justice… like the parents of the RG Kar victim. They did not think for a second before killing my nine-year-old daughter,” Yasmin said.

Meanwhile, TMC leader Debangshu Bhattacharya alleged that the BJP is “creating disturbance”. “We have already said that BJP is doing this march to create disturbance. They insulted the sentiments of a mother who lost her daughter just a year ago,” he said.