Godhra women allege sexual assault by cops

The signatories include six Muslim women,who claim to have been among the several who were beaten up and sexually assaulted by personnel of the B-division Godhra town police,who raided their homes that night. All are residents of Geni Palot and Hathila Palot area in Godhra.

“We are terribly helpless and feel insecure in our locality despite being bonafide citizens of India. Even at this moment,we live in our homes fearing attack by the police without any legitimate reason. We request you to kindly initiate suo motu action so that those guilty of violating human and natural laws are punished at the earliest,” the request reads.

One of the women,40-year-old Sabera Hayat,told The Indian Express that the cops stormed in around 1 am. “All of us were asleep,including my daughter Amina,who recently delivered her first child. They pulled my hair and started beating me. They also pounced on Amina,when she tried to intervene. Even the newborn got injured on her leg while the police were beating Amina. When I started screaming for help,they covered my mouth and threatened to rape me.”

Farida Chimaji,27,said she and her six-month-old daughter Musfira were injured all over. “We cannot even describe the gestures and words that they hurled at us.”

Around midnight on December 19,about 150 personnel from divisions A and B of the Godhra town police along with others from the district had carried out a combing operation in Muslim-dominated Geni Palot and Hathila Palot areas. The police maintain it was in the wake of a rioting and stone-pelting incident,in which four cops were injured.

“We had identified the accused during the incident and we did the combing operation to get them from their hideouts,” said Inspector of B division Godhra town A V Parmar. “Ten women police officers were there in that operation.”

Godhra Superintendent of Police J R Mothalia said the allegations were fabricated to stop the police from entering the area “which is a known hub of illegal animal slaughter”.

Eight Muslim women were arrested in the combing operation and booked along with about 100 others on charges of rioting and attacking public servants. On being produced before the Godhra Chief Judicial Magistrate,A N Tadvi,on December 21,these women showed the court their bruises and injuries,alleging that the cops had sexually assaulted them.