Lady constables tell tales of horror
PANJIM, FEB 25 - It will probably take a month for 22-year old police constable Teja Budgo from Indian Reserve Batallion (IRB) to fully recover from severe injuries she suffered while on bandobast duty on Tuesday night when miscreants from the mob showered stones on the cops.
She was among forty-five policemen who were injured in the onslaught of stones by protestors who had come to the town police station demanding to transfer of police inspector and arrest of all the persons involved in the assault of Ryan Godinho - supporter of Taleigao MLA Babush Monserrate.
"I ran to escape stones hurled from the back when something very hard hit my fingers on the right hand," tells Teja who has become extremely weak after the attack. She has been forced to take complete bed rest.
"It was only when I was inside the police station I discovered blood oozing down from my hair, and I collapsed. I can't remember when I was hit on my head", she recalls painfully. She has ten stitches right on her head, and the wound is still raw.
Her middle finger on the right hand has turned blue. She has problem moving around because her knee is swollen, and hurts. Teja is sole bread winner in the family of six, and is eager to join work.
Her ailing mother and retired father are though worried about her health, they too want her to go back to work when declared fit. "It is her duty," says her father Jayeshwar Budgo, but her grandmother is worried to death.
It's unusual for a well built 24year-old Milinda Fadte to lie down even for five minutes, but for a week now she has been confined to her house thanks to her head injury. She has four stitches which are likely to be removed tomorrow.
"Not just stones but broken bottles and tiles were hurled at us from the back. But I can't recall who hit me," says bored Milinda who otherwise loves to play cricket during off-duty.
Milanda was on bandobast duty at INOX. They were asked to report at town police station at 7.30 when Taleigao MLA Babush Monserrrate with his supporters staged a dharna at Panjim police station.
"We went straight to the spot without carrying shields nor helmets," she says.
No wonder ill-prepared Panjim police were at the receiving end as seniors failed to gauge the situation and take pre-emptive action while agitators went berserk.
Head constables Nirmala Mapshekar and Sunita Karapur both hurt in the attack say they never expected that they would be attacked.
"I have been in service since 1989 but never faced such violent protestors," says Nirmala. "We never expected that things would go out of hand, and that we will be under attack," pointed out Sunita whose leg was sprained as she ran when chaos ruled as protestors pelted stones and police men ran helter-skelter.
Of the injured 45 police men - 17 had head injuries who faced agitated and incited protestors without any protection of shields or helmets. While few have resumed work many are yet to recover.
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