Demanding immediate release of the Handwara girl from ‘illegal’ police custody, All India Students Association (AISA) Wednesday staged a protest at Sabarmati Dhaba in Union Capital New Delhi. The students who also organized a candle march termed the detention of North Kashmir’s Handwara girl as illegal and stated that government intentionally did not give her access to the outside world just to keep a lid on the truth.The peaceful protesters set the effigy of BJP-PDP coalition government on fire. The protest was led by Sucheta De National President, AISA and Sandeep Saurav National General Secretary of the Association.Spokesperson AISA said that since 12th April, the minor girl has been in illegal police custody after she complained of molestation by some armed forces personnel, and the local people protested against this. “The child was forced to give a false testimony exonerating her molesters, the testimony was circulated over YouTube, revealing her identity to the entire world. Her mother was not allowed to speak to the Press about the issue. She continues to be in illegal detention, without any access to rights groups or child support organization.”
“Her access to her family and legal team has not only been prevented but also controlled by the state authorities.The continued detention of the minor girl and her family members violates their civil liberty and basic rights too. The continued police detention also means a threat to her physical and psychological well being,” the spokesperson said adding that at present the minor girl and her family members are in police detention at an undisclosed location. “We demand the immediate release of the girl and her family members from police custody and their unhindered access to the legal help.Earlier, AISA held a protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Friday against the killings and the mishandling of the allegations of molestation. AISA's MANUU unit also held a protest demonstration on the same day outside the MANUU, Hyderabad campus gate. (CNS)