Chandigarh: Woman out to buy medicines dies, relatives attack cops

CHANDIGARH: Violence rocked Manimajra after a 45-year-old woman died under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday.
Angry relatives and neighbours clashed with the police following rumours that "police beating" killed Mindo Devi of Shanti Nagar. People claimed they were told that "a cop hit the woman going to buy medicines for her ailing husband with a stick on her head", leading to her death. Cops clarified they did not even touch the woman and only asked her to go back to her house due to the lockdown. "Suddenly, she fainted. She was declared brought dead by doctors at Government Multi-specialty Hospital, Sector 16," cops said.
By that time an angry crowd gathered on the road and started pelting stones on a police party and tore uniforms of two cops. Four cops - two of them women - and six others were injured. Cops used force to disperse the crowd. The fight was captured by residents on their mobile phones and circulated on social media. A video clip showed cops entering the house of the victim, dragging out her sons and others and thrashing them in full public view. Another video clip showed cops chasing people and throwing sticks at protesters, who too were holding sticks and abusing them.
Charanjit Singh, DSP, UT police denied the victim was hit with a stick. "She was stopped and questioned for roaming on the road. In the meantime, she collapsed and police called an ambulance. She was taken to GMSH. Some local residents informed her family members that police hit her with sticks. They started pelting stones ," he said. Family members claimed she left the house to buy medicines for her husband around 1 pm. Cops stopped her and asked her to stay in the house. She had an altercation with the cops and one of the women constables allegedly hit her with a stick.