Sadhvi writes to Prez, claims torture by ATS

In the letter written on December 30, 2011, she requested the President to ask the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take action in this regard and ensure that the officials concerned are brought to book.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is in Nashik central jail for her alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts of 2008, has written to President Pratibha Patil from prison, seeking an inquiry into her “ill treatment and torture” by officials of the Maharashtra ATS.

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In the letter written on December 30, 2011, she requested the President to ask the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take action in this regard and ensure that the officials concerned are brought to book.

Thakur has claimed that ATS officials whipped her severely with belts and subjected her to verbal abuse in jail.

She has added that she often fell unconscious and suffered from stomach pain and disorders because of the brutal treatment. Thakur has also accused the government of trying to appease “a particular community” and deliberately demeaning the path of sanyas (renunciation) prescribed by dharmagurus of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism).

She also alleged that the late ATS chief Hemant Karkare forced one of her disciples to beat her up.