4 held for assaulting Kashmiri woman: Police

New Delhi: The Delhi Police today arrested four men for allegedly assaulting a Kashmiri woman in southeast Delhi’s Sunlight Colony, a senior police officer said.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik informed Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba that the incident was a local issue, triggered by a dispute over feeding stray dogs and had nothing to do with the woman’s origin.

On Thursday night, the victims, including four women, were allegedly surrounded and roughed up by a mob of around 30-40 people. A police case was registered following a complaint from one of the women. She had alleged that she was physically assaulted by the mob.

The police have also registered a case against the victims’ family members on a complaint by residents of the locality. The police arrested the four men — Kalyan, a security guard, and three locals, SN Pandey, RK Chopra and Anil Lath — on the basis of CCTV footage collected from the area. The complainant has alleged that they were targeted because of their Kashmiri origin.

“My sisters were abused and beaten up. I have a broken left hand and a person who had come to visit us was also attacked. It was a planned attack and the accused were carrying hockey sticks,” one of the victims had told PTI.

He had claimed that the accused were shouting slogans like “Kashmiri terrorists should be sent back”. He had also claimed that they had asked for police protection on May 2, but did not get any help.

“The main culprit is yet to be arrested. We have informed the police about his involvement but they have not taken any action against him. We have not been given police protection even after the incident,” he told PTI today.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke to her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal today about the incident.