An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker allegedly slapped a police officer during a protest demanding pay increase, police said. The women ASHA workers who gathered near the office of the directorate of medical education (DME) were demanding the Congress government in Telangana to fulfil its promises to increase their salary to Rs 18,000 per month.
As police tried to detain them and take them into preventive custody, one of the protesting women reportedly slapped the Sultan Bazaar station house officer after her food appeared to be ‘stuck’ in the door of the vehicle.
Videos and clips of the incident were circulated on social media platforms and an official said that the police have launched a probe into the protest after registering a case. The woman along with 11 others were booked under BNS Sections 126 (2), 127 (2), 221, 223 (a) and 132 r/w 3(5) for assaulting and obstructing on-duty public servants.
The chaos was triggered on Monday afternoon when the police were attempting to disperse the demonstrators who were demanding an increase of their remuneration to Rs 18,000, double from their current salary (Rs 9,000).
In the video from the spot, the woman is seen shouting and crying as her leg was stuck in the vehicle’s door before she slapped the SHO. Soon after, women constables and police officials were seen promptly intervening in the situation.
The workers were then escorted to a nearby police station. "When we asked them to vacate the road, they did not obey after which the personnel tried to disperse them. However, one of the protestors hit our inspector and constables," the ACP Sultan Bazar K Shankar said.
(With inputs from PTI)
