Police forced me to give a false statement: Handwara girl

A veil-wearing girl, presented by an NGO as the one who was at the centre of Handwara protests last month, claimed on Monday that the police had 'pressurised' her to make a statement before a magistrate in which she exonerated an army man of molestation charges.

According to reports, the girl has demanded registration of an FIR against the police and others responsible for recording and circulating her video statement and for the ‘wrongful confinement and hostile treatment’ from April 12 to May 12.She made a statement, narrating what, according to her, had happened on April 12 and the subsequent developments. "In the morning of April 16, a police officer told my father and me that we have to give a statement as per his instructions before the court. He pressurised me to say that I was born in 1997 and also to stick to the statement in the recorded video," the girl claimed.

She further alleged that she and her parents were forced to sign on documents and their statements were forcibly recorded before a court."My statement and that of my father before the court were therefore not a voluntary statement. When I gave my statement before the court, my father was not allowed inside with me," she charged.


Handwara town is in the news since last month after a 16-year-old girl accused an army man of molesting her.  In a video-recorded statement released by the police later, the girl revealed that no soldier was involved in any molestation and blamed a local boy for misbehaving with her.