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A group of ‘Stop Acid Attack’ campaigners, including six acid attack survivors were on Thursday detained by police when they tried to stage a protest outside Parliament House.
The campaigners claimed that they were carrying out a peaceful protest outside Parliament House when they were forcefully evicted by the police and taken to Parliament Street police station.
“The police heckled us, dragged us and took us to the Parliament Street police station where some of the male protesters were beaten up. We are not being released and see no sign of it. Two of the survivors -- Rupa and Laxmi – fainted during the incident and police have denied us any sort of medical aid,” said Ashish Shukla, member of the campaign.
Police, however, denied these allegations saying that the protesters had reached Parliament’s gate number one without any intimation or taking permission for police.
Another activist, who was present at the spot, further added on their Facebook page that despite Rupa and Laxmi fainting, the cops continued their assault and even snatched away their cell phones.
They were then taken away by the police from the spot to the police station. On their Facebook page, in a series of posts, they wrote that four of their volunteers were put in a room and were beaten by the cops and shouts of ‘maaro gir, gira ke’.
“The allegations that they were beaten up on the premises of Parliament Street police station are false as CCTV cameras are installed. There were nine female and 14-15 male campaigners who have been detained. They have refused to undergo medical test. We will release them after some time,” said a senior police officer.
The campaigners have been on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar for the past seven days demanding implementation of the Supreme Court orders to curtail the counter sale of acids in the country following a PIL filed by Laxmi Saa, an acid attack survivor.
The campaigners alleged that they have not received compensation of Rs 3 lakh that was promised to the survivors.
The campaigners have also been demanding for the setting up of fast-track courts and rehabilitation programmes for the acid attack survivors.
“We were marching towards the Parliament. The police stopped us midway and dragged us and beat us up. Our phones were snatched. I and Laxmi fainted,” said Rupa, an acid attack survivor.
The campaigners have also written to the Home Minister on the issue.
Images: Stop Acid Attacks/Facebook