Three Kashmiri students were assaulted in Panjab’s Mohali district after they were dragged out of their apartment late on Monday night.
The trio (name withheld by The Kashmiriyat) is pursuing engineering in nearby colleges. While two of them hail from Budgam, one is from the Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat one of their friends (who wished to maintain anonymity) said that around 10 PM on Monday, one among the trio got a call from a friend who lived nearby. He went out and some goons were waiting for him there. He was thrashed severely, without any provocation.
While he was being assaulted, the attackers shot a video and sent it across to some group, he said, adding, “Minutes after that video was sent in the group, many more people came in and they soon stormed into the room of the Kashmiri trio.”
As soon as these goons who live in rented accommodations came in, they hurled abuses at the students who have rented an apartment in Mohali. “They were mocking and hurling abuses at us all for our Kashmiri identity,” he said.
“Several men- entered the building and accused the Kashmiri students of making noise and started assaulting them mercilessly while the victims kept begging them for forgiveness,” he said. Some of them came with sticks, hockey sticks and others who were not armed, took out their belts and start assaulting the Kashmiri students mercilessly.
“It continued for nearly half an hour. They also searched the apartment and were probably looking for another roommate who had initially escaped from the room,” the friend, who lives in the next building said.
After the goons left, two of them had to be rushed to a nearby hospital, however, the goons had blocked the exit of the building. After minutes of pleading, they eventually let us go with warnings. “They were discharged yesterday after their wounds had been treated,” he said.
The videos and photos of the injured students circulated widely on social media.
“The complaint is further forwarded to S.A.S Nagar Police station for immediate legal action,” Punjab police tweeted.
Nasir Khuhami, a spokesperson of the Jammu Kashmir Students’ Association said, that he was in touch with the students and was working on the issue to be resolved. “They were thrashed and people in the locality alleged that they were creating noise,” Nasir said.