'I Was Detained With My Kids at Shivaji Park, Then Kept Apart From My Minor Son'

I had to plead with the police to let me catch a glimpse of my son, writes a Mumbai-based entrepreneur.

Priya Sharma (name changed to protect identity) was detained along with her two minor children on 11 October in Mumbai.

(Photo Courtesy: Kamran Akhter/ The Quint)

At Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Sunday, 11 October, there was heavy police deployment as large crowds gathered to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Entry points to the park and the surrounding roads were barricaded, with police personnel stopping and questioning people, including those entering the lane in vehicles leading up to the protest site. As the police tightened security, people were detained and taken away in vans.

Among them were not just protesters, but also people who were simply passing through the area or standing on the footpath.

The shops, malls, restaurants and cafes in the area were open—and many of us had returned from a mall visit or lunch in the area. People were pushed, shoved and dragged into police vehicles, with little or no explanation offered for their detention.

I was one such person who was out with my minor children, aged 12 and 17, near Shivaji Park.

‘Told Them Repeatedly To Send My Children Out'

At around 4:30 pm, I found ourselves near Shivaji Park on our way home. We were standing in the vicinity, trying to understand what was happening. That's when a policewoman approached my son and started questioning him.

Before any of us could respond, she began nudging my children towards the police van. I told her that they were minors, and that I was their mother. “Chalo, chalo,” she said before pushing my son into the van. My daughter walked into the van.

The Quint reporter, who was present on the ground, told the cops that they are kids, asking the policewoman to let them go.

She didn't. Then she turned to me and asked, “Why are you here?” I replied that we were just passing by, but she pushed me into the van, too.

Priya Sharma (name changed to protect identity) dragged into a police van by Mumbai Police near Shivaji Park on 11 October.

(Photo: The Quint)

I told them repeatedly to release my children. But the police paid no heed and kept shoving me into the van. When I resisted, three policewomen forcibly pushed me inside, dragging me even as I protested.

Protestors being dragged at Plaza Cinema, Mumbai.

(Photo: The Quint)

'Three Hours of Uncertainty, Distress and Unanswered Questions'

Around 30 minutes later, the police van drove to Plaza Cinema, a few hundred metres from where we had been detained. There, we witnessed the police detaining a group of protesters. Police personnel pulled away their placards, lifted protesters off the ground, and threw them into the van as they continued to chant slogans and resisted being taken away. One man sustained injuries to his hand.

It was at this location that The Quint’s reporter and videographer were also detained.

Among those detained were two young women who were in the area to attend a Navratri event. They were crying, worried that they would miss work and lose their day’s wages.

They told us that they were even more worried that their families might believe they had gone to the protest instead of working.

Another woman and her two male friends who had been detained told us they had just finished lunch at a restaurant in the area when the police picked them up. Another lady in her 50s was detained for walking the street as she was going to a shop to buy something. Like many others in the van, they had no idea why they had been detained or what they had done wrong.

What followed was nearly three hours of uncertainty, distress, and unanswered questions.

Protestors being pushed into the same van that had Priya Sharma and her minor children.

(Photo: The Quint)

'Had to Plead With the Police to Let me Catch a Glimpse of My Son'

At Tardeo police station, the men and women detainees were separated. The women, including me and my daughter, were made to sit in an unhygienic, outdoor area that smelled of urine and was littered with garbage. My son, meanwhile, was taken to a separate room with the male detainees at the community hall opposite the police station.

Being separated from my son, without knowing why we had been detained or what would happen next, was distressing. I had to plead with the police to let me catch a glimpse of him.

At 6 pm, we told the police to let us go, but they kept saying when they get orders they will do so. At about 6:30, I and the other women found a back door that led to us to the communty hall where the men were kept and we joined them. I was relieved to see my son was okay.

‘Protestors Continued To Chant Slogans'

As we joined the rest of the detainees, the spirit in the room was undefeated as detainees continued to chant slogans.

We were finally released ay 7:15 pm, but were given no explanation why were we detained. Do we not have the right to walk on the streets? How can they detain minors?

(Priya Sharma (name changed to protect identiy) is a 45-year-old Mumbai based entreprenuer.)

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

The Quint has reached out to the Tardeo police for a response. This story will be updated once their response is received.