GUWAHATI/TURA:
A Garo woman from Lower Nogolpara village under Dainadubi police station in North Garo Hills was brutally assaulted and subjected to third degree torture at Dudhnoi police station in Assam’s Goalpara district on July 5 evening in connection with a coal theft case triggering widespread protest from Garo organisations of the state.
Two police personnel – SI Bishnu Bahadur Newar and woman police constable Mamata Joshi — who were allegedly involved in the police excesses on the Garo woman have been suspended.
Admitting the incident, Goalpara Superintendent of Police VV Rakesh Reddy said, “There was an incident reported. A woman was beaten up in the police station. We are taking it seriously. Immediately SI Bishnu Bahadur Newar and woman police constable Mamata Joshi have been susp[ended.”
“A case has been registered against them in this connection. An independent inquiry is also going on. There should not be any bias. We will take whatever legal action is required,” Reddy added.
The case has been registered against the two police personnel at Dudhnoi police station under sections 294/384/354/325/342/34 of IPC.
In an FIR lodged by the victim, she said, “On July 4, some police personnel of Dudhnol police station called me and my husband Sengkal R Marak at around 2 pm. I along with my husband went there and asked them why we are called. They said that on June 25, a person, Dhrubananda Choudhury, of Goalpara had lodged an FIR against us alleging that on February 24, 2021, he had paid Rs 95,000 and given 29.30 tonnes of coal to my husband with a direction to deliver the amount and coal at Dainadubi, but my husband has not given him the money and coal.”
According to the FIR, on their arrival at the police station, the police called Dhrubananda Choudhury after which the police started to threaten the couple and also allegedly used foul language. The police personnel and Dhrubananda Choudhury even asked them to pay Rs 20 lakh on the spot at the police station.
“We stated to them that it is not possible for us to pay the huge amount at a time and I also stated that I have only Rs 50,000 in my purse and I can give that amount to them if required. Then Dhrubananda Choudhury and some policemen had brutally assaulted us with lathi, hands and legs. They have also forcefully taken our signatures on some Non-Judicial Stamp paper and white blank papers and they have also snatched Rs 50,000 from my purse,” the woman alleged in the FIR.
It said that after some time the police allowed the husband to go and manage Rs 20 lakh while keeping her inside the police station. However, at around 3 pm when her husband did not return, Choudhury, the woman police constable and some other policemen brutally assaulted her using sticks, cable wire, hands and also allegedly molested and outraged her modesty. As a result, she received grievous injuries on her legs, hands and “all over my body”.
“Soon after the incident, somehow I called my relatives and intimated the fact to them. Then some policemen took me to the Dudhnol Hospital and the policemen didn’t allow me to enter the hospital, they entered the hospital with some papers and took the signatures of the Doctor who was present at that time on duty. After that they allowed me to come to my house,” she added.
The incident has triggered protests from Garo Students’ Union, Assam State Zone (GSU-ASZ) as the student body wrote to the Goaalpara superintendent of police for immediate action.
Garo Development Council (GDC) led by its chairman Alex K Sangma condemned the brutality on the woman and demanded justice to the victim and her family.
In a letter to Goalpara SP, GSU-ASZ president Foldin Marak, vice-president Sengman Areng and general secretary Kronel Sangma said the incident was condemnable and has discredited the Assam Police.
A large number of social and student organisations from across the North Garo Hills region are staging a mass protest rally in Kharkutta and Dainadubi on Thursday to condemn the assault on the woman.
Organisations like the Garo Students Union, Mothers Union of Dainadubi and Kharkutta, A’chik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAM) and other student and social bodies have given a call for the protest rally to be held in Dainadubi.