“About 20 men in police uniforms and plainclothes brought down the terrace gate and pulled off my 65-year-old mother’s shawl. We sisters decided that it was better to die than submit to them,” said 24-year-old Humera Parveen told Hindustan Times, whose wedding is due to take place in March.
According to Hindustan Times, Humera Parveen and her younger sister hurried to their terrace of their home around 12.30 am on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar’s Khala Paar. Parveen told the Hindustan Times, that her elderly parents and the two sisters were in their eight-room house when they heard loud sounds of hammers hitting their iron gate at around 12.15 am on Saturday. Her brothers were out of town at that time. Her father, Haji Anwar Ilahi, has said that the intuders also vandalised their car and brand new appliances.
Fortunately one of the policemen asked the others not to touch the young women. Both sisters were spared but their house was vandalised. The policemen also hit their 75-year-old father with lathis and kept him at a police station for over 40 hours. Humera told the leading daily that her wedding plans have been thrown into uncertainty.
But the family was shocked after an alleged robbery took place during all this. The family lost gold jewellery worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs 3.25 lakh cash that were kept for Parveen’s wedding. While the family begged the intruders to spare their belongings, on the other hand policemen said that they would be thrown out of their house. The cops then allegedly beat up and detained Humera's father and that is when the two sisters and their mother locked themselves on the terrace.
But Parveen’s was not a singular account of alleged police excesses in Muzaffarnagar district. Even a 26-year-old driver, named Noor Mohammad, was shot during the protest and he died the same night.
Uttar Pradesh saw violence during protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Protests broke out in several districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday leaving at least 17 people dead and moveable and immoveable assets damaged, mostly in arson.
According to reports, a total of 5,400 people have been taken under custody till now and around 705 have been sent to jail. The UP government is also expected to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against 250 agitators. Around 269 policemen were reportedly injured in Uttar Pradesh and 57 received bullet injuries. The Uttar Pradesh Police also seized 405 country-made revolvers and pistols.
