Kathua rape-murder case: Activist alleges assault in custody, police say he injured himself

Talib Hussain, a social activist who led an agitation seeking justice for the family of an eight-year-old girl who was gangraped and murdered in Kathua district of Jammu division earlier this year, was briefly admitted to a hospital in Samba on Monday with injuries on his head.

Inspector General of Police, Jammu zone, S D Singh Jamwal said a fresh FIR will be registered against Talib for allegedly injuring himself.

Asked about the cause of injury, Talib told the doctor that he was beaten up by the police in custody, while the police maintained that he injured himself by hitting his head against the wall, Director, Health Services, Jammu, Dr Gurjeet Singh, said.

Dr Singh said the police brought Talib to Samba district hospital around 2 pm, and he showed “hypotoma in frontal skull’’ (forehead). Since there were no other injuries, the doctor prescribed him medicines and the police took him back to the police station, he said.

IGP Jamwal said Talib had hit his forehead against the wall. “He may be taking drugs, and suffering from withdrawal symptoms,’’ he added.

Talib, who comes from the nomadic Bakerwal community, has been in police lock-up since Thursday when he was sent to four-day police custody for questioning on a rape charge pressed by a close relative of his estranged wife. He was arrested from Tral area of the Valley on Wednesday.

The rape charge came nearly a month after Talib’s estranged wife, Nusrat, got an FIR registered against him at Samba police station on charges of domestic violence and an attempt to kill her. The FIR was registered following directions from a local court to look into Nusrat’s earlier complaint. Talib got proceedings in Nusrat’s complaint stayed from a Kashmir court.

Javed Rahi, general secretary of Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation of Gujjars and Bakerwals, alleged that Talib was arrested as part of a campaign against him after he successfully led an agitation, leading to arrest of eight people in the case pertaining to the rape and murder of a child in Kathua.