Mubashir Naik
On Saturday, a Muslim tribal family was attacked by some miscreants in the Samba district of Jammu. The family accused that those miscreants misbehaved with a female member as well as attacked the male members of their family.
The family has been living in Samba for years and were returning to their Kullas (tents) from the Sungwali Mandi area after grazing their cattle.
“Around three persons who were inside a car came out and started misbehaving with his daughter. We tried to rescue her but were beaten ruthlessly by some men who were called by the other three men. Our cattle were also attacked which is the source of income for us,” said a family member Rafakat Ali.
The police arrived on the spot and filed a case against the perpetrators.
The injured of the family were taken to a nearby Samba Hospital where the doctors refused to treat them and were referred to Government Medical College, Hospital, Jammu, where they were treated.
After the case was filed, the Muslim tribal family was attacked again by the same people against whom the case is lodged in the Samba police station. During the attack, the Kullas (tents) were burnt, cattle were killed and female members were attacked. The attack came with a warning of leaving the area within 2 days.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti highlighted the incident and requested the immediate intervention of the Inspector General of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh.
“A Gujjar family was brutally attacked in Samba yesterday. The culprits tried to abduct their daughter, the family resisted and were beaten up. The father has been admitted to GMC. The goons later set their sheds ablaze. Request @mukesh_ips-jk ji to look into this immediately,” the former chief minister said in a late Saturday tweet.
Responding to the request, the IGP said police have already taken cognizance of the incident and an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 307 (attempt to murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) was registered at Samba police station.
Talib Chaudhary, a political activist expressed his anguish over the attack in a video message and said that these continuous attacks on tribal communities may increase as the Forest Act is going to get implemented soon in Jammu Kashmir as these miscreants don’t want them to obtain these lands.
He also appealed the government to take action on such incidents.