Vegetable vendor alleges assault in a video; police deny claim

A video surfaced on social media on Sunday in which a vegetable vendor alleged that he was beaten up by a police officer amid the lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus

A video surfaced on social media on Sunday in which a vegetable vendor alleged that he was beaten up by a police officer amid the lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Sector 10. The vendor had sustained injuries on his left hand. The police refuted the claim and said that they have not received any kind of complaint regarding the matter.

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The vendor, in the almost one-minute-long video, alleged that he had put his vegetable cart in Kadipur Mandi, Sector 10. He added that a police officer allegedly asked him to remove his cart and when he refused to do so, the officer hit him with a stick.

The video was recorded on Saturday evening by a human rights activist based in Gurugram who requested anonymity and said, “I had gone to the Sector 10 police station regarding some other case when I saw the vendor standing outside the premises. He told us that he was hit by an officer of the police station while he was selling vegetables. His hand was severely injured. As I was in a rush, I could not make sure that he filed a complaint. I just recorded the video and posted it to social media on Sunday.”

On April 1, a special police officer (SPO) was dismissed from duty for allegedly beating up a doctor who was returning from a government hospital after finishing his shift in Pataudi. The doctor had sustained minor injuries.