Rohingyas Detained After Cow Carcass Found Near Refugee Camp
The refugees, who were let off by the police after “96 to 264 hours” say that they were “never produced in a court”.
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On 10 September, as the police lined up 10 Muslim Rohingya refugees in a police station on the outskirts of Jammu and lashed them with a stick and a belt, they had only one question: "Who killed the cow?" So said multiple refugees, including a minor boy who was detained, to IANS.
Twelve Rohingyas – including two women with breastfeeding infants – were detained in Channi Himmat Police Station in south Jammu, for durations ranging from four to 11 days, and the men were allegedly beaten up by police.
A cow carcass had been found in an empty parcel of land near the Rohingya settlement in Channi Rama in south Jammu. BJP members protested against the killing of the cow.
The brutality that followed were confirmed to IANS by three persons detained by the police, community leaders, neighbours, and family members of two out of three refugees currently in jail for allegedly killing the cow.
The refugees, who were let off by the police after periods ranging allegedly from "96 to 264 hours", said that they were "never produced in a court". A person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours and must be produced before a magistrate, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Sixteen-year-old Sayed Noor claims to have been detained for eight days. She recalls the horror.
Vimla, a 35-year-old Hindu woman who stays in the same plot from where the Rohingyas were arrested, said the police asked her to come to the police station.
Rohingyas, termed as one of the "world's most persecuted minorities", have been facing military brutality in Myanmar, with the UN urging the government to end the "cruel military operation".
More than 800,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar in the last five years as a result of violence, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and there are around 21,500 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in India.
Jammu, with a large refugee population, has been witnessing protests by the BJP and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) to "identify and deport Rohingyas".
Noor Hussain, 16, is one of the boys who, with others, was taken into custody by policemen as they stepped outside their mosque – without any explanation. The policeman appeared drunk, said Noor.
Stuck on the white wall of Channi Himmat Police Station is a list of rules. One of them reads: “Do not take a child/juvenile into police custody or keep them in police station at night.”
Hamida Begum, 30, said she and another woman were detained for four days.
Kushnama, 20, wife of Noorullah, 22, one of the three Rohingyas currently in jail, said: "I do not have money to get him out (on bail) or to even visit him in the jail."
Mustaq Ahmad, 51, a Muslim from the Gujjar community, whose cow was found dead on 9 September, said that within hours, a crowd, including hundreds of members of the "Shiva Sena and BJP", blocked the nearby highway blaming Rohingyas for "killing the cow".
When asked whether he saw any refugee killing his cow, Ahmed said "No", adding: "Who else would do it? It happened right next to where they live."
BJP's Jammu legal cell member, Hunar Gupta, also confirmed to IANS that "local BJP leaders had blocked the highway" in protest. In February, Gupta had filed a PIL for deportation of Rohingyas from Jammu.
The SHO of the Channi Himmat Police Station, Sajjad Mir, confirmed that many people were called in for questioning, but claimed that "they were sent back and not detained".
This article has been published in an arrangement with IANS.
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