By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: A woman constable of Mumbai police on Saturday evening allegedly misbehaved with and manhandled a Muslim woman journalist and her family when they were visiting Haji Ali Dargah.
Unaiza Quraishi, a news channel reporter, her sister Sajida Quraishi, mother Khatoon-un-Nisa and two family friends Shekhar and Naina were heading towards the Dargah at 4 pm on Saturday. On the entrance where a metal detector was set up a woman constable stopped a poor woman who was carrying milk for her children and something in a bag, and asked her not to carry the bag and milk packet. The woman requested her to let her carry the milk at least but the angry constable threw the bag and the food away on the ground.
This all happened before the journalist and her family. When the journalist protested at it the policewoman used filthy language against her. Not only this, she targeted the whole community and allegedly said the Muslim community was behind the Mumbai terror attacks.
“The verbal argument turned into a scuffle when the police constable along with other policemen surrounded my sisters and old mother and manhandled them,” Mushtaq Quraishi, brother of Unaiza, told TwoCircles.net.
The Haji Ali Dargah built in 1431 by a wealthy Muslim Haji Ali is located on an islet off the coast of Worli in Mumbai and attracts thousands of people from both Muslim and Non-Muslim communities every day while on Thursdays the gathering is larger. Around the time of the incident there was tight security in the vicinity as Prime Minister was reportedly scheduled to cross from the area.
In the scuffle the woman constable was reportedly injured and was admitted in Nair Hospital. The journalist and her family were detained and sent to police station. A case has been registered against the visitors at Tardew police station for creating hurdles in the investigation and raising hands on the police.
According to the police, a Non-Muslim woman was also with the visiting family and she let her baggage be checked but the Muslim family of the reporter did not allow the same as the lady said she was a press reporter. So the constable stopped them, resulting in a heated argument. Then the family beat the police constable.
The family of the journalist so far has not filed any case against the police but they intend to do it soon after their members are released, Mushtaq said.