UP cop turns body with booted foot
Six months ago, during a Samajwadi agitation, a photograph showed the then DIG Lucknow D.K. Thakur crushing a man’s face with his boots. Six months later — and after a change of government in the state — the police behaviour remains unchanged.
On Sunday, a photograph appeared on TV channels showing a police inspector in Amroha district overturning the bullet-ridden body of a young man with his boots in the presence of the media. Police inspector S.C. Belwal, posted at Naogawan Sadat police station in Amroha, is shown talking to Amroha SP Deepika Garg and when the SP makes inquiries about the bullet wound, the inspector conveniently turns over the body with his boots. The inspector is later seen stepping on the deceased’s thigh to maintain his balance on the slightly inclined roadside.
SP Deepika Garg now denies the incident. “I do not think that such a thing but if the media insists we will investigate the matter,” she said on Sunday. Three days ago, Deepak, 24, a resident of Barkhera village in Amroha, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants while he was on his way to watch a cricket match. Deepak had a criminal background and was in prison for eight months for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a teenager.
Meanwhile, a human rights group called Indian Human Rights Association met Rajendra Singh, father of the deceased on Sunday and promised to take up the issue with the National Human Rights Commission.
“A clause in Article 21 of the Constitution says the body of any deceased should be given respect and the last rites should be performed according to his/her religion. Pointing your shoes at the body is an insult and we will take up the matter to the human rights court,” IHRA president Bhagwat Sharan Gupta said.
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