Police unleash brute force to ‘subdue’ student with mental ailment

College student Sanchita Sinha, 22, was beaten brutally by the police at a public place in Durg, 35 km west of the Chhattisgarh capital on Monday.

College student Sanchita Sinha, 22, was beaten brutally by the police at a public place in Durg, 35 km west of the Chhattisgarh capital on Monday.

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Eyewitnesses and police sources said Sanchita, who belongs to Jharkhand, got violently hysterical on her way back home after taking an exam in her college and began throwing stones at passers-by in a fit of insanity.

When the police got to know of it, a 10-member team, including four women constables, rushed to the spot to subdue her. But instead of displaying sensitivity in dealing with a mentally disturbed person, they took recourse to brute force.

Two male constables hit her repeatedly while women constables helped drag Sanchita to a police jeep before taking her to the police station.

“I was too shocked to even think of requesting the police to deal with her compassionately,” said Sanchita’s father S.S. Sinha, who was with her.

The Durg police said Sinha told them Sanchita suffers from a mental ailment and occasionally behaves violently.

Women’s rights groups here are furious. “The brutal and inhuman behaviour displayed by these cops suggest that they themselves are mentally sick persons in uniform,” said Asnee Duggal of Asmita, a women’s organisation in Raipur.

Realising the gravity of the situation, Durg Superintendent of Police (SP) Dipanshu Kabra took immediate action. “After getting the complaint, I suspended two policemen and asked the Durg City SP Rakesh Bhatt to inquire into the matter,” said Kabra.

Sanchita was released from the police station on Monday evening but Zulaikha Zabi, convenor of women’s rights group Sambhavi, is not satisfied. “Why were only two cops suspended? The police should offer an apology for the shameful incident.”