Talib Hussain, the previously hailed ‘social activist’ who is in custody on charges of an attempted rape by a female relative, has been injured in Samba jail. According to reports, Hussain suffered a head injury and was taken to the Samba District hospital. He was discharged after treatment and sent back to police remand.
There have been conflicting reports about the cause of his injury. While many media reports have quoted the Samba Police as saying that Talib caused self-harm in an attempt to commit suicide. He reportedly banged his head on the walls of the lock-up.
Attempting suicide is a criminal act under the law and the Samba police have reportedly lodged an FIR under section 309 of the Ranbir Penal Code. Several reports have stated that Hussain had created a ruckus inside the police custody and banged his head. He had reportedly created mayhem in the hospital too. The Samba police have denied all reports of assault by inmates and maintained that he has caused self-harm.
The Amar Ujala report claims that this entire episode was a drama that was created by Talib Hussain because he wanted to be admitted to the Hospital. According to Amar Ujala, Talib Hussain was planning to escape from the hospital but was returned to jail after his treatment.
A Kashmir based media outlet Raising Kashmir has reported that Lawyer Deepika Rajawat has claimed Talib was assaulted by inmates inside lock-up and later he had hit his own head in anger. While rape accused getting beaten up in jails is a recurring incident, the Samba Police have maintained that he was neither assaulted by inmates or police. The injuries he suffered were minor and he was discharged from hospital after primary treatment.
Many people in social media, however, have been circulating the story of assault by inmates. Supreme court lawyer Indira Jaising claimed that Talib Hussain ‘has been tortured in Samba police station while on police remand’. She insinuated that Talib Hussain was a victim of police brutality. However, no local report has thus indicated that he might have been a victim of police torture.
Talib Hussain was in the forefront of the protests against the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Rasana earlier this year. Recently, his wife had brought charges of domestic violence against him, claiming Hussain had been demanding dowry and harassing her since she had given birth to two girl children. One of Talib’s female relatives recently claimed that he attempted to rape her in a local forest and threatened her with a weapon. Hussain had been arrested under the charges of attempted rape possessing an illegal weapon.