A teenage boy from Nowshera’s Nonial village, whose father is a physically challenged man, might lose one of his eyes after he sustained a serious eye injury during Saturday’s clashes over district status demand. He has been referred to a hospital out of the state on Monday for treatment as doctors here were finding it difficult to prevent him from losing an eye.
The boy, identified as 17-year-old Jaswinder Singh, is a student of class 11th at Boys Higher Secondary School Nowshera. He has a younger brother who is in class 10th of a local school and his mother is a housewife. His father, a physically challenged man, is the sole bread earner and works as a tailor in Nowshera town.
“Jaswinder sustained a serious teargas shell injury in his left eye during the clashes in Nowshera and was taken to a local hospital, before being referred to GMC Jammu,” sources said.
“After being treated at GMC Jammu for a day, he has been shifted to PGI Chandigarh with doctors finding it difficult to prevent complete disability of his left eye,” said Ravinder Singh, a close relative of the injured. He added that besides the eye injury, he also sustained multiple injuries, including facial injuries, as he was directly hit by a teargas shell which the police allegedly fired directly on protesting people.
Meanwhile, DDC Dr Shahid Iqbal told Greater Kashmir that the boy has been taken out of the state for treatment and medical aid. “A financial aid of Rs 1 lakh has been provided to the family of the boy and we will also take up the case with government for more aid,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that violent clashes erupted in Nowshera on Saturday when the people of the area took out a protest march for district status and tried to move towards Tehsil office complex, but were stopped by the police, leading to clashes in which DDC among thirty persons got injured.