On 10 September, as the police lined up 10 Muslim Rohingya refugees in a police station on the outskirts of Jammu and lashed them with a stick and a belt, they had only one question: "Who killed the cow?" So said multiple refugees, including a minor boy who was detained, to IANS.
We were crying and told the police that we did not do it, but they kept beating us for about 15 minutes.Hamid Hussain, Rohingya Refugee
Twelve Rohingyas – including two women with breastfeeding infants – were detained in Channi Himmat Police Station in south Jammu, for durations ranging from four to 11 days, and the men were allegedly beaten up by police.
A cow carcass had been found in an empty parcel of land near the Rohingya settlement in Channi Rama in south Jammu. BJP members protested against the killing of the cow.
The brutality that followed were confirmed to IANS by three persons detained by the police, community leaders, neighbours, and family members of two out of three refugees currently in jail for allegedly killing the cow.
On the second day, police made us sit on the floor and stretch our legs. Then they hit us on our legs, back and hands with a stick and a belt. They tortured us a lot.Hamid Hussain
The refugees, who were let off by the police after periods ranging allegedly from "96 to 264 hours", said that they were "never produced in a court". A person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours and must be produced before a magistrate, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Sixteen-year-old Sayed Noor claims to have been detained for eight days. She recalls the horror.
The infants were crying a lot in the police station. One was only four days old.Sayed Noor
Vimla, a 35-year-old Hindu woman who stays in the same plot from where the Rohingyas were arrested, said the police asked her to come to the police station.
We said that we are Hindu, how can we come? The police then told us to go back to sleep and left. I never went to the police station.Vimla
Rohingyas, termed as one of the "world's most persecuted minorities", have been facing military brutality in Myanmar, with the UN urging the government to end the "cruel military operation".
More than 800,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar in the last five years as a result of violence, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and there are around 21,500 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in India.
Jammu, with a large refugee population, has been witnessing protests by the BJP and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) to "identify and deport Rohingyas".
Noor Hussain, 16, is one of the boys who, with others, was taken into custody by policemen as they stepped outside their mosque – without any explanation. The policeman appeared drunk, said Noor.
Before I reached the jeep, an officer slapped me on the cheek. They put us in the lock-up and bolted it from outside.Noor Hussain
Stuck on the white wall of Channi Himmat Police Station is a list of rules. One of them reads: “Do not take a child/juvenile into police custody or keep them in police station at night.”
Hamida Begum, 30, said she and another woman were detained for four days.
I had my seven-month-old son and the other woman had her newborn baby girl with her.Hamida Begum
Kushnama, 20, wife of Noorullah, 22, one of the three Rohingyas currently in jail, said: "I do not have money to get him out (on bail) or to even visit him in the jail."
Mustaq Ahmad, 51, a Muslim from the Gujjar community, whose cow was found dead on 9 September, said that within hours, a crowd, including hundreds of members of the "Shiva Sena and BJP", blocked the nearby highway blaming Rohingyas for "killing the cow".
When asked whether he saw any refugee killing his cow, Ahmed said "No", adding: "Who else would do it? It happened right next to where they live."
BJP's Jammu legal cell member, Hunar Gupta, also confirmed to IANS that "local BJP leaders had blocked the highway" in protest. In February, Gupta had filed a PIL for deportation of Rohingyas from Jammu.
The SHO of the Channi Himmat Police Station, Sajjad Mir, confirmed that many people were called in for questioning, but claimed that "they were sent back and not detained".
If I get a chance, I want to ask the police: Why did you take him? Every day I think he will come back today.Kushnama
This article has been published in an arrangement with IANS.
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)