10 may @ mandala slum (indiranagar), mankhurd

Police at Mandala, Mankhurd (Mumbai) on 10 May 2006.








These images were taken at Mandala (Indiranagar) at Mankhurd, Mumbai, on the evening of 10 May, 2006, one day after the slum was set ablaze and there was a BMC-led demolition of the locality. At least 5,000 families have been displaced by the destruction. During our visit to Mandala on 10 May, displaced slumdwellers told us that they have not had access to food or water for two days. Most have lost everything (belongings, money, ration cards, proof of residence) in the fire and demolition.

There has been a heavy police presence at the Mandala slum since 9 May. The police have been using particularly aggressive tactics to remove residents from their homes, intimidate them and control the movement of people within and around the slum (basti). There were brutal police beatings of Mandala slumdwellers on both 9 May and 10 May. We have collected many, many complaints of injuries suffered at the hands of police, from women, men and children alike: accounts of bruising, bleeding, swelling, and open wounds are rampant. As the basti burned, police dragged several women by their hair; dismissed their pleas to go back or collect belongings; shouted and beat them with shoes and lathis (bamboo sticks). On the afternoon of 9 May, a 30-year-old pregnant woman was struck on the stomach by a police constable and lost consciousness; she suffered a miscarriage at Shatabdi Hospital and, a few hours later, was shifted to Sion Hospital due to the unavailability of blood and critical-care beds at Shatabdi. Yesterday, 12 May, a Mandala child died at Rajawadi Hospital of injuries related to a lathi beating.

After visiting local hospitals and speaking with residents of Indiranagar, it has become clear that the police are turning away Mandala victims at Shatabdi Hospital, and possibly others. Some have been given medicine at Shatabdi but denied medical care. Others have been told to leave. There seems to be a coordinated effort on the part of the police to prevent beating and burn victims from being admitted to the hospital.