The schoolgirl said in this video that she was harassed by a local boy
Highlights
- Protests erupted over allegations that a soldier had molested the girl
- Refuting that, army released video in which she said a local harassed her
- Cops say the 16-year-old and her father are in 'protective custody'
For three days, a schoolgirl has not been allowed to go home by the police in Kashmir's Handwara, which has been tense since three persons were killed in firing by security forces on Tuesday.
The clashes erupted in the north Kashmir town over allegations that the girl had been molested by a soldier.
But in a mobile phone video first leaked by the police and then released by the army, the 16-year-old has denied molestation and instead accused locals of instigating protests.
The video was filmed inside a police station and a male voice is heard urging the girl to speak.
When the girl's family went to the police asking for her on Thursday morning, her father was also held back. "The police told him that they want to hand over the girl to the family. But once he reached police station he was also detained," said a relative.
The police claim the girl and her father are in "protective custody", but the girl's family and activists question it.
"The girl and her father are in protective custody because they have asked for police protection," Uttam Chand, a senior police officer, told NDTV.
Rights groups have accused the police of illegally detaining the teen and also questioned the way the video was recorded and circulated.
"If the police want to provide protection to the girl, then can provide it at her home, not at the police station," said Khuram Parvez, program coordinator at the J&K Coalition of Civil Society.
Mr Parvez added that "the police cannot record her statement without the approval and presence of her guardians, which clearly was not followed."
As allegations that the teenager had been molested by a soldier circulated on Tuesday, a large mob surrounded the main army post in Handwara town and threw rocks.
A young cricketer, a 70-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man were killed as security forces fired at the protesters. A man was also killed during protests in Kupwara. Amid anger over the deaths, a curfew has been in place in Handwara and some other parts of the Kashmir Valley this week.