SRINAGAR: Advocate Parvez Imroz who met the Handwara girl reportedly in police custody with other two Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) members, Thursday, said that the girl was in fact in police custody.
Advocate Parvez Imroz and his team of three other persons arrived in Handwara for the meeting with the girl, a press statement of the Society said. SP, Handwara had been informed last night itself. For more than an hour DSP (Operations) and in-charge SDPO Baljeet Singh and DO, Masroor Ahmad, Police Post Zachaldara, in person, and SP, Handwara, on phone, informed the team that only Advocate Parvez Imroz can be allowed for the meeting as the lawyer on record before the High Court.
The meeting was finally held between the minor girl, her parents and Advocate Parvez Imroz and Adv Kartik Murukutla. JKCCS, Programme Coordinator Khurram Parvez and another colleague were not allowed into the meeting, the statement claimed.
The girl and her father were brought from an undisclosed location, which is almost 5 km away from the place where the actual meeting was held in Zachaldara. Two police personnel were stationed outside throughout to ensure that no one else was allowed inside, the statement read
The police have, through their conduct today, confirmed that the minor girl is in police custody, and is under severe restrictions, surveillance and her movement, and those wishing to meet her, are regulated by the police.
This contradicts with the status report filed by the government before the High Court that the minor girl and family have requested police protection and are not confined or detained in any way. The restrictions imposed by the JK Police and the statement of the minor girl and her family belies the claims made by Police officials and other government officials who have stated that the girl and her family are not in the Police detention. We are particularly concerned about the statement to this effect made by Ms Nayeema Mehjoor, Chairperson of the State Commission for Women, as she has offered to assist the family of the minor girl in relocating them away from Police control and media, the statement added.
The minor girl and her family had a detailed two-hour meeting with their lawyers. The family confirmed that they were being held in police custody against their will, and seek urgent relief from the High Court to have them released from the custody and be allowed to reside at a place at their choice where they can continue their legal struggle. The minor girl at the centre of the police oppression is daunted by continuous police detention and resultant instability and worried for the security of her family members. She informed the lawyers that once she is out of the police detention; she would struggle for justice and expose the lies of the State and those who have been maligning her image, the statement further said.
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