Case filed against PSI, probe ordered

VADODARA, Dec 9: On the eve of International Human Rights Day, a story of inhuman atrocities unfolded in Vadodara that severely undermine...

VADODARA, Dec 9: On the eve of International Human Rights Day, a story of inhuman atrocities unfolded in Vadodara that severely undermined the police8217;s credentials as the repository of law and order. Manjulaben, a 25-year-old tribal girl, filed a case against a sub-inspector alleging that she had been burnt, beaten and subjected to mental torture for three days while in police custody last month. The police have set up an inquiry into the matter.

The woman, currently undergoing treatment for burn injuries at SSG Hospital, has alleged that four policemen tied her hands tied to a window in a room at the Shinor police station; she was stripped naked, given a thrashing and then raped twice during her three days in custody by the station in-charge. She also said that her private parts were burnt with a candle.

DSP Vadodara Rural Shamsher Singh told Express Newsline that a case had been registered, under Sections 323 and 324 IPC pertaining to mental torture and injury and under Section 3 1 10 of Atrocities Act, against PSI Praveen H Chaudhary this evening. The inquiry would be headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police SC/ST cell R M Rathod, he added.

District Collector Anil Mukim, when contacted, said he had asked the social welfare officials to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report as soon as possible.

Waghodia BJP MLA Madhu Srivastava, who visited the victim in SSG Hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment for burns, said that the woman had levelled the charge of rape against the offending PSI in the presence of Resident District Collector C R Kharsan and social welfare officials as well as Deputy Superintendent of Police Vadodara rural M V Bhuria, but this was not included in the FIR.

When asked why the charge of rape had not been included in the FIR, Singh said that the woman had not made this allegation in her preliminary statement to the doctor on duty and Circle Police Inspector M L Chaudhary. 8220;It was an after-thought8221;, he stated.

Interestingly, though doctor on duty in the emergency cell of SSG Hospital had informed the Police Control Room rural on December 3 when the woman was admitted, the case was registered only today. When asked for the reason behind the delay, Singh said that the police had to collect the doctor8217;s statement and details of the torture and injuries.

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Speaking to Express Newsline from her hospital bed, Vasava reconstructed the sequence of events. She said she had been picked up on November 27 by the Shinor police, on charges of abduction and sale of a 25-year-old mute youth, and dragged by her hair to the police station. Her parents were not informed; her father came to know only the next day, when he went in search of his daughter.

She said the mute, Mahesh Vasava, used to work with her on cotton farms. On November 24, she decided to see a movie in Dabhoi along with her two other co-workers; the three took lift in a Tata Sumo, and Mahesh joined them despite her protests.

They stayed the night with a co-worker8217;s relative near Dabhoi; the next morning, the Sumo despite her protests.

They stayed the night with a co-worker8217;s relative near Dabhoi; the next morning, the Sumo driver left them at the Dabhoi State Transport bus stand but took the mute with him, saying he would soon be back. However, he didn8217;t return. After waiting for some time, Manjulaben and the other two boarded a bus and came back to Shinor.

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When Mahesh didn8217;t return, his mother reported the matter to the police and alleged that her son had been abducted and sold by Manjula. The police first arrested Raimal and Suresh, her co-workers, and then arrested Manjula.

While Raimal and Suresh were let out on bail in Shinor, Manjula was kept at the police station for three days before she being produced before the Dabhoi court. She was granted bail on December 2 and admitted to SSG Hospital on December 3 by her sister and uncle Rasikbhai Mohanbhai Vasava.