Bengaluru:
Karnataka police have ordered a departmental inquiry after a Dalit man alleged that he was forced to drink urine in custody in Chikkamagaluru district, officials said.
The incident took place on May 10 at Gonibeedu police station in Mudigere taluk of the district. The inquiry was ordered after the man lodged a complaint with the Chikkamagaluru superintendent of police (SP).
In his complaint, the man alleged that Gonibeedu police took him into custody on May 10 based on an oral complaint by a group of villagers accusing him of creating a discord between a couple in the village.
The man said no written complaint was filed against him, but he was kept in the police station from 11 am to 10.30 pm. “Policemen beat me up for a couple of hours. Then they asked another man who was in the lockup to urinate on me. He refused, but he was forced to do it. After that, they made me lick the urine on the floor,” he alleged.
Chikkamagaluru SP Akshay M Hakay said that based on the man’s complaint, a case has been registered against the sub-inspector of the police station under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Hakay didn’t reveal the section under which the sub-inspector has been booked.
“Deputy SP of Chikkamagaluru sub- division has conducted a preliminary inquiry into the incident and we have also recorded the victim’s statement. Now we have ordered a departmental enquiry, which will be impartial. If he (the sub-inspector) is found guilty, the official will get maximum punishment,” Hakay said.
{{/usCountry}}“Deputy SP of Chikkamagaluru sub- division has conducted a preliminary inquiry into the incident and we have also recorded the victim’s statement. Now we have ordered a departmental enquiry, which will be impartial. If he (the sub-inspector) is found guilty, the official will get maximum punishment,” Hakay said.
{{/usCountry}}He refused to divulge the findings of the preliminary investigation. Asked about the action taken against the sub-inspector, Hakey said he has been transferred out of the police station. “We will discuss about his suspension,” he said.