Paver block thrown at migrants injures 6-year-old

The paver block hit the girl's ankle. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

A minor girl walking home with her parents to her hometown in Uttar Pradesh was injured on Saturday night after an on-duty police constable pelted paver-blocks on a group of 250 daily-wage workers in Mulund East.

The workers were walking home and had reached Mulund from Powai via railway tracks around 11.30 pm. A bunch of Good Samaritans has been distributing food packets and water among the migrants when the incident took place. The face of the constable could not be seen as the road was dimly lit.

"We were passing by when we saw a large number of migrant workers. We stopped to help them with food and water. One of my friends was shooting a video on his mobile phone," said Sandesh Ghag.

"A second later, a six-year-old girl started to cry. We noticed that her ankle was hit by a paver block. When I turned to see who might have thrown the paver block, I saw a constable armed with a baton murmuring something. Though I could not see his face in the dark, I requested police not to pelt stones on migrants as there are several kids in the group of nearly 250 people," said Ghag, adding, "The constable turned back when he noticed that we are shooting a video. He was also wearing a face mask so there was no way to identify him."

Mid-day has the video in which cops are also seen chasing the migrants before the minor girl was hit. "The child appeared to be in a lot of pain. Her terrified brother also started crying as their parents tried to console them," said Ghag.

A police team from Navghar police station on night patrol reached the spot and was told about the incident. Ghag claimed that personnel from the team commented: "Migrants are a headache for us. They have been giving us sleepless nights."

The family continued walking towards Bhiwandi. In another incident last week, Kashimira police were seen assaulting migrants on Versova bridge on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway near Ghodbundar Road junction.

The zonal deputy commissioner of police, Paramjit Singh Dahiya, defended his team and said, "Police have not pelted any stone on migrants. Why would police throw paver blocks on a minor girl?"

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