Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Seema Patra was on Wednesday arrested for allegedly torturing her 29-year-old tribal domestic help for years, days after details of the assault she allegedly perpetrated triggered widespread anger and forced her party to take action against her.
A 29-year-old woman identified as Sunita was rescued by the Ranchi police from Patra’s residence in Ashok Nagar area in the state’s capital on August 22. Patra, wife of a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer BB Patra, had allegedly kept the woman captive in her residence for several years, starved her for days at a time, beat her with rods and an iron pan, and forced her to lick urine off the floor, according to allegations by the victim.
“We took her (Patra) into custody from her residence today,” said Vinod Kumar, officer in-charge, Argora police station, where a case has been registered. “After her medical check-up, we produced her before the court, which sent her into 14-day judicial custody.”
While being taken to the hospital, Patra told reporters that she was being framed and claimed the allegations against her are politically motivated. “I will reply to all your queries,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}While being taken to the hospital, Patra told reporters that she was being framed and claimed the allegations against her are politically motivated. “I will reply to all your queries,” she said.
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When asked why she got her own son admitted at the Central Institute of Psychiatry, she said he was “unwell”.
The incident came to light after Patra’s son Ayush alerted his friend Vivek Baskey, a government employee, about the treatment being meted out to Sunita by his mother. Baskey subsequently alerted the police and is now the complainant in the case.
On learning that her son had alerted his friend, Patra reportedly got him admitted to the government-run psychiatric hospital claiming he was suffering from “mental health issues”.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, soon after she was rescued on August 22. As the rescued domestic help was traumatised and fragile, her statement was recorded under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a magistrate on Tuesday.
Patra, who was a member of the national working committee of the women’s wing of the BJP, was suspended by the party on Tuesday soon after a video of Sunita narrating her ordeal went viral on social media. In the video, the victim is seen emaciated and with only a few teeth left on her jaw as she recounts the details of the abuse while lying down. The police on Tuesday said her state was so fragile that she was not able to walk on her own and had to drag herself on the floor.
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“She was in a horrific condition which is otherwise difficult to believe. No human can survive in that condition… but she was forced to live in that state,” said Vinod Kumar, OIC, Argora police station, who was among the team that rescued her. “She looked malnourished. As examined by woman officer, she had severe wounds and burn marks all over her body and had broken teeth. Treatment at RIMS in past one week has already improved her condition.”
Kumar also said the 29-year-old help, in her statement before a magistrate on Tuesday, claimed that she was “held captive for eight years”.