She was first accused of theft and then allegedly stripped and beaten up in the lockup of a police station in the Indian state of Haryana. The 30-year-old woman from Assam who worked as a domestic help in a bungalow in the upscale DLF Phase 1 area in Gurgaon, was taken to the police station on Tuesday after her employers accused her of theft.
Now, media reports say that the woman and her husband alleged that the police had beaten her in her private parts.
Assam is a state in the north-eastern part of India. In the past, there have been numerous complaints from people belonging to north-eastern states in India, of the harrasment they face when they relocate to other parts of the country.
To tackle this, a special police helpline number was launched in different parts of the country including Gurgaon, in 2014.
The woman's husband called the helpline number seeking help. Following this, over 200 people of northeastern states assembled in the police station on Wednesday afternoon and demanded strong action against the offending police personnel.
The victims husband said: "We have demanded strong action against four police personnel including two women officials who brutally assaulted her at the behest of area ACP and DCP Sulochana Gajraj."
According to indiatoday.in: "The investigating officer, (ASI) Madhubala, called her to the police station. When she reached the police station, she was taken to a room, stripped and beaten up brutally with belts and batons. They forced her to confess to a crime that she did not commit," he added.
Yesterday, after a group of people from the north-east staged a protest outside the office of Gurgaon's Police Commissioner Mohammad Akil, he ordered a departmental inquiry against the four accused policemen.
"We received a complaint against the police personnel of DLF Phase 1 and accordingly, sent them to the lines. The accused officers are SHO Sawit Kumar, ASI Madhubala, HC Anil Kumar and woman constable Kavita," Subhash Bokan, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Gurgaon Police, said.
Tweeps who shared the news are shocked.
@progressk4 tweeted that immediate action was needed: "These type of incidents belittle India's efforts in acquiring respect world over.The police personnel behind this need to be punished severely."
And @Solossoul added: "This is violation of human rights and now no one is going to talk."
Tweep @neha_aks pointed out that this negated the whole purpose of having “lady police” officers. And, @Pradeep99313 replied: "IMO [In my opinion, this has] nothing to do with gender. Police in India have colonial mentality. Ofcourse these things happen all over the world. But India is the worst and the first thing that police do is thrash the person. They know no other way of investigating. Amit Shah raise this point of outdated methods."
