A 22-year-old student injured amid the police crackdown at the Cockroach Janta Party protest on Monday is currently in the ICU at the RML hospital. Sharing an update regarding Sakshi’s condition and health, her family, who chose to remain anonymous, told Hindustan Times that their daughter got severely injured in a stampede-like situation that took place after the crowd started running post tear gas shelling.
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The family added that Sakshi was at the site with her elder sister, who also got injured during the protest. Follow Jantar Mantar LIVE updates
“She got severely injured post the tear gas shelling and the crowd started running, subsequently she got injured in a stampede kind of a situation. She has severe injuries on her neck and is currently in ICU and will go into surgery. She was there along with her elder sister, who had received some injuries in her leg,” a family member said.
Also Read: Lathi charge, internet cut: How CJP’s ‘Chalo Sansad’ March brought Delhi to a standstill
Shaikh Irshad Mansuri (25), was also severely injured during the protest after he suffered injuries to his face, chest, back and neck.
Doctors at Lady Hardinge hospital said he will undergo surgery as few pellets have pierced through his eye and neck and have to be removed.
Anshu Mishra, a resident of Nangloi told HT, “We have recently given our NEET re-exams. We were completely following the issue since the start and wanted to be part of the march on Monday. We reached the protest site at 9 am and at around 11:30 am the police started doing lathi charge. A police man first hit me on my back and neck, when I fell down, the police continued to beat me. There are many videos of me also on the internet that are going viral showing police hitting me. I was rushed to RML by other protestors where treatment was provided.”
His friend, Keshav Jha (19), also from Nangloi, has received seven stitches on his head after getting injured at the protest. “When I was trying to protect my friend, the police men came and started hitting me also. They were directly hitting on my head, due to which I got seven stitches.”
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“I was only standing outside McDonald’s in Connaught Place and I saw people raising slogans against Dharmendra Pradhan. I joined them. I was not doing anything else. I don’t know why but an RPF person came and started hitting us. They fired tear gas shells…one hit my face and I felt my face had exploded. I couldn’t even scream because it hurt my neck. I felt I was going to choke. I never expected this would happen. My parents are in Jabalpur. I had promised them this was a peaceful protest. But police treated us like terrorists. Two-three policemen walked by but they didn’t help. They picked up lathis and hit my friends. Thankfully, people still stayed and rushed me to the hospital,” he told HT.
Also Read: Protesters were ‘unruly, aggressive and violent’: Delhi Police on CJP protest
Students who appeared for NEET-UG re-examination, were also present at the protest site and were injured.
“We knew that the police will try to stop us to go for the March, but we did not think that they would brutally start hitting us, without thinking that someone could also die,” he added.
Union health minister JP Nadda visited the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital on Tuesday to interact with the injured protesters. During his visit, Nadda held a meeting with doctors to review the medical care being provided and the condition of the injured.
Calling his visit to the hospital a “photo-op”, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said that the government should be providing the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“We are yet to hear from the government. We are taking care of our protesters. The government needs to sack Pradhan instead of this photo-op!,” he said in a post on X.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal also met student protestors on Tuesday and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for what it called “brutality” against the country’s youth.
“Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Smt. Priyanka Gandhi ji, and Organization General Secretary Shri KC Venu Gopal met with the students injured during the police brutality and lathi charge in yesterday’s youth protest. Today, the future of students in the country is being trampled, and lathis are being rained down on those who raise their voices, for which Narendra Modi should apologise. The students’ demand is absolutely clear – the government should take responsibility for the paper leak and Dharmendra Pradhan should resign,” the party said on X.
A day after the CJP did not go forward with its march to sansad and continued their protest at Jantar Mantar, hundreds of supporters have gathered at the site to continue their protest.
The CJP has vowed for the resignation of Pradhan, saying the movement will continue until that happens. However, Dipke has ruled out another march to Parliament, saying, “police will hurt youth again.”
He accused the Delhi Police of using “brutality and cruelty” during the protest, alleging that police personnel assaulted student protesters and used excessive force to disperse the crowd.
“Yesterday we saw with what brutality and cruelty the Delhi Police beat the children. They cracked the heads of 12-year-old girls. And it was male police officers who did this,” Dipke said.
