Meena says martyr’s widow taken hostage, shares video

Jaipur: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirori Lal Meena on Sunday alleged that Manju Jat, one of the three widows of the Pulwama terror attack martyrs, has been kept hostage on the outskirts of Jaipur. Meena also tweeted a video of Jat, in which she is seen gesturing and incoherently speaking.
Speaking to journalists from SMS Hospital in Jaipur, where he has been admitted since Friday, Meena said that Jat has been pleading for help and that police were not allowing her to step out of the house.
The video surfaced nearly 60 hours after Jat was reportedly whisked away by police allegedly to her native place from the three widows’ protest site in Jaipur. The video, said to have been shot at Harmada in Jaipur, shows Jat lying on a bed in a semi-conscious condition and unable to respond to questions from media persons who filmed it.
“Martyr Rohitashv Lamba’s wife Manju Jat has been beaten so much by police that she is unable to even speak. Even the British did not cause so much harassment. Chief Minister @ashokgehlot51, if you do not want to accept the demands of the heroines, do not accept them, but who gave your police the right to torture them?” asked Meena in his tweet that has a 1.03-second video of Jat attached.
The MP told journalists the video shows that Jat has not eaten for days and is in a deep state of shock due to the series of events that unfolded last week. TOI called up Jat for her response but got none. The date and time of the video, which started going viral since Sunday afternoon, could not be independently verified by TOI.
Manju Jat and two other protesting war widows—Sundari Devi and Madhubala Meena—were shifted from the protest site outside former deputy CM Sachin Pilot’s residence at 3am on Friday. Jat was taken to her native village, Govindpura Basari. She was later rushed to Amarsar PHC after she complained of chest pain. Jat had been reportedly missing since Friday afternoon and was seen only in the video that appeared on social media on Sunday.
Police did not respond to the MP’s allegations. A senior police officer told TOI, “If anyone can reach out to the honourable Manjuji, how come the stories are being circulated that police have detained her or that she is under strict vigil by police?”