OBSERVER REPORT NEW DELHI Indian Congress Party leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday stated that Indian police had beaten up women and minors during ongoing protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, Indian channel NDTV has reported. The Congress party’s general secretary made the revelations while talking to reporters after an “unscheduled” visit to Muzaffarnagar, a city in Uttar Pradesh. She had gone to the city to meet families who were victims of Indian police brutality during recent protests. The NDTV said that the leader of India’s main opposition party had visited the homes of those who were injured. At least 27 people have died in protests in recent weeks and hundreds more have been injured in clashes with police, fuelling public anger. Nineteen of the deaths have been reported in Uttar Pradesh, where police have been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters“I will stand with you in this hour of distress,” Gandhi told the victims. Gandhi claimed that “people were beaten up mercilessly and even children and minors were not spared”. She also alleged that the police had attacked a 22- year-old pregnant woman. The Congress leader told reporters that she has conveyed “each and every police excess” in a letter sent to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel.
