Disciplinary action being initiated: IGP
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 4 Jun: A video of police personnel filming and harassing YouTuber Paras Singh in the lockup surfaced on Friday.
Police sources said that the incident might have occurred at the Yupia court when Singh had been taken there on Friday. The JMFC court in Yupia has extended the judicial custody of accused Singh for seven more days.
Paras Singh has been arrested for his seditious comments and racial slur against Congress MLA Ninong Ering.
In the video, police personnel are seen forcing Singh to take off his mask, and asking if he is the real Paras Singh. “Open your mask once, want to see your face. You are real Paras, right? On Facebook you were looking different,” the police personnel are heard saying.
The police personnel asked Singh to eat pike pilla (an Apatani dish) before going back to Punjab. The personnel are seen harassing him in the entire four-minute video.
The harassment of any prisoner amounts to violation of the Human Rights Act. The human rights convention gives basic legal rights to prisoners, which includes right to food and water, protection from torture, violence and racial harassment, right to access legal counsel, etc.
Moreover, the Paras Singh case is highly sensitive in terms of communal and regional aspects.
On being asked about the incident, IGP Chukhu Apa termed it “very unfortunate” and informed that the department is initiating disciplinary action against the police personnel involved in harassing Paras Singh.
