Three Kashmiri women and a man were allegedly beaten up by residents of Sidharth Extension in south Delhi on Thursday night following a dispute over feeding of stray dogs. The four alleged that they were called ‘Kashmiri terrorists’ and asked to leave the area.
The family, which has been staying in the area for the past 11 years, has had altercations with other residents over various issues.
Video of incident
The residents’ welfare association has written several letters to the police and authorities raising suspicion that the Kashmiri family was “harbouring terrorists”.
The Kashmiri man said he had stepped out of the house after dinner to escort a friend when a few residents carrying sticks charged at them “unprovoked”. When his three sisters intervened on hearing the commotion, they were beaten up with sticks, he alleged.
A video of the incident that went viral online shows one of the sisters sitting on the ground and screaming that she has been beaten up.
“They have been pressurising us to leave for years. On Thursday night, all four of us were mercilessly thrashed. They called us Kashmiri terrorists and asked us to go to Kashmir,” the man alleged.
‘No one harmed sisters’
Denying the allegations, a resident, Sangeeta Tripathi, alleged that she was thrashed by the Kashmiri man following an argument and no one had harmed his sister. “No one touched the woman. We were, in fact, only trying to take the stick, which she had snatched from my hand, back from her. No one called them Kashmiri terrorists. We were carrying sticks because of the stray dog menace in the area,” she claimed, adding that they have given a written complaint to the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Chinmoy Biswal said a case of sexual harassment, among others charges, has been registered based on the complaint of the Kashmiri woman and no case has been registered on Ms. Tripathi’s complaint.
“It’s a sensitive matter. We’ve registered a case based on the woman’s complaint. One complaint has been received from members of the RWA, but no case has been registered,” he said.
