Mumbai: Woman stripped in police station, HC orders probe
The gym trainer also alleged that on May 12, she was assaulted by one of the officers
Taking serious cognisance into the allegations made by a 25-year-old gym trainer against police authorities at DN Nagar police station, the Bombay high court (HC) ordered an independent inquiry into her claims of being assaulted by a woman officer in DN Nagar police station.
The gym trainer had alleged that on May 12, she was called to the police station at 1am and stripped in front of male officers. The woman also alleged that she was assaulted by one of the officers.
A division bench of Justice RM Savant and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere directed the deputy commissioner of police, Niyati Thaker, to conduct an inquiry and submit a report in a sealed envelope.
The woman alleged that on May 10, her colleague had called her for help, as his minor cousin was illegally detained since May 8 at the police station in connection with a rape and kidnapping case. The woman referred the case to her advocate Rajesh Sarawade and with his help wrote a letter to the authorities at the police station on May 11 against the alleged illegal detention of the minor by a woman police officer.
The woman further alleged that the same night, the officer at DN Nagar police station, who was on night duty, called the family members of the minor to the police station at 1am. The officer also threatened the minor’s family members to call the 25-year-old to the police station. The woman alleged that she was at a wedding party and reached the police station at 2am where an officer misbehaved with her.
In her petition, she also alleged that when the woman officer noticed that she was recording the incident, she was assaulted and forced to remove her pants in front of male officers.
The next evening, the woman officer falsely registered a case against the woman and her family members, claiming that they assaulted woman officer while on duty.
The woman was produced before the magistrate court on May 13, where she told the court that she was assaulted by the police officers while in custody. The magistrate court directed the officers to conduct the woman’s medical examination and submit a report, and also remanded her in judicial custody. She was later granted bail on May 15.
The woman in her petition claimed that she was not taken for any medical examination nor was she given any treatment for her injuries received at the police station. After she was out on bail, she herself went to Bhabha Hospital for medical examination. The doctor diagnosed that her ear drums had sustained injuries due to the assault at the police station and because she was not given immediate treatment, the wounds had developed an infection.
The family of the woman then approached higher police officers to complain against the high-handedness of the DN Nagar officers but were not given any hearing. The woman then approached Bombay HC.
The court asked prosecution for footage from CCTV cameras at the police station to know what happened on May 12. The HC was informed that footage was unavailable as the CCTVs inside the police station had been non-functional for two to three months before the incident.
The court first raised the question on CCTV footages and demanded an answer from the authorities on the non-functioning CCTVs.