NEW DELHI: Several students returned to Jantar Mantar Tuesday with bruises from the beatings by police during Monday’s lathicharge.Among them was Abuzar (22), a Delhi-based student activist pursuing a master’s degree. He alleged that he was assaulted when he stopped to fill his water bottle as the protesters were moving out of Jantar Mantar.“Police personnel and some men in civilian clothes abused us and started thrashing us. When we asked the men without uniforms to identify themselves, they refused, and laughed,” Abuzar said. One of the men used a lathi that was fitted with nails, he said.This allegation of police using sticks fitted with nails came from another student too. Sameer (26), who suffered a lower abdomen injury but returned to the protest with his brother, said: “They (police) hit me with lathis fitted with screws, but I’m not deterred. That’s why I’m back.”Abuzar said he also saw women police personnel slapping girls who were in the procession. “Even Class XI and XII students were beaten up,” he said.A 19-year-old undergraduate student, who requested anonymity, alleged that a Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawan pinned her foot down before beating her with a stick.She said a stampede-like situation prevailed near Janpath metro station as protesters were forced to flee.“During the lathicharge, they told women students, ‘Hadd mein raho’,” the young woman said. She too was back, despite her injuries. Asked why, she said: “The leadership may not have been there (at the protest), but this cause is bigger than any organisation.”
