New Delhi: Doctors say a 19-year-old student wounded by pellet fire during a protest in the city may lose vision in his eye. The student, injured during a demonstration on July 20 with the “Cockroach Janata Party” parliamentary march, suffered multiple facial injuries and is receiving treatment at AIIMS.
Surgeons removed pellets from the student’s right eye, but family members say a pellet had struck the macula and doctors estimate only a one percent chance of regaining vision in that eye. People whose bodies were riddled with pellet wounds have shared images of their injuries on social media. A photograph shared by an Outlook magazine reporter, showing injuries caused by the pellet attack, underscores the severity of the assault.
Police have denied using pellet guns, but published images of injured people contradict that claim. There are allegations that police or RPF personnel may have used pellet weapons. Authorities are also monitoring a second patient, Shaikh Irshaj Mansoori, who is being treated for pellet injuries and whose vision may likewise be at risk.