Chaos unfolded near a school in Indiranagar when a protest against the rape of a three-year-old from the North-East turned violent on Tuesday.
The police resorted to lathicharge, causing grievous injury to a protester and minor injuries to seven others. Fisticuffs broke out between women protesters and women constables that spilled onto CMH Road near the Indiranagar Metro station, blocking traffic for a while.
A few women constables were also hurt in the scuffle. Helena Nenhgoikim, a protester, was detained for assaulting a woman constable.
Nearly 60 members from the Thadou community (a tribe in Manipur) living in the City gathered outside the school around 8 am for a peaceful protest following reports that the minor was assaulted by the school watchman on Monday.
Around 10:45 am, the police asked the protesters to move away from the school.
Indiranagar Police Inspector Manjunath Shetty said as per the guidelines of POCSO Act, 2009, to protect the identity of the victim and the school, the protesters were asked to shift to another location.
“As we were moving, the police followed us. When we reached the Metro station we stood there for a while. But the police asked us to move even from there and some started to push us. That is when some women got angry and fought back,” said Linda, a protestor.
Thangminlal Haokip, another protester who works in a saloon in Sadashivnagar, was at the receiving end of the lathicharge by a group of four to five policemen for nearly a minute. He sustained several injuries on his legs and body.
Thangminlal’s friend Rocky later told Deccan Herald that he retired to a friend’s room nearby and was struggling to even stand up. The protestors also claimed that some onlookers joined the police and started to beat them up. “I was trying to break the fight between the women cops and our girls, then some onlookers hit me. An auto driver punched me on my head,” said one Lalneo Thadou. The school authorities, however, denied that the incident took place inside the campus and claimed that they had the backing of several parents. Interestingly, no other parent took part in the protest.
