KANNUR: Riya Narayanan, secretary of Azhikode constituency of Youth Congress, who was badly beaten by the police during the youth congress strike in Kannur, is undergoing treatment at Kannur Thalassery Indira Gandhi Hospital. Riya spoke to Kerala Kaumudi on her hospital bed.

What happened?

I still shudder when I think about it. "Your life is over" the police yelled at me as I fell to the ground. Then when I said that I was ready to get into the vehicle without any other means of escape, they stomped my hair with booted foot and said, 'No, you don't get in, we will get you in.' Then multiple policemen pulled me upwards and sideways with all their might. I was in bone-chilling pain.

Meanwhile, they tore my clothes. I struggled to cover the exposed part of my body with my hands on the street. My body and mind are still frozen.

Who stomped your hair?

It was a male policeman who stomped my hair. Then they pulled me aside. He pretended not to hear me, even though I cried and told him to get off my hair several times. Two policewomen grabbed my hand. One stomped over my hip with a booted foot. At that time I felt a numbness mixed with intense pain. Don't do this to anyone, not just me.

Was there no provocation on the part of the strikers?

The police did not make a move to control the protesters without going into provocation and to arrest the leaders. Many policemen came with name boards removed from their uniforms. During the inauguration itself, the police started provoking the activists by saying many things. They were not behaving like policemen but like leftist politicians. They tried to hit the head, neck and chest with a lathi.

What is the program now?

We are not criminals. We will still be in the field of political activity and will join the struggle. Don't think that you can scare us away. Will file a complaint against the police assault. If we do not get justice, we will approach the High Court. Why is the government afraid of protests? Don't Pinarayi and the police officers know that the protesters have certain rights...?