BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur broke down while recalling her ordeal while addressing the party workers today. Sadhvi Pragya was granted bail in April 2017 in the 2008 Malegaon Blast case after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to provide any conclusive evidence against her.
Sharing her ordeal Sadhvi said that she was brutally beaten and even threatened to be disrobed during her custody. She said that the cops used to abuse her mercilessly and they beat her up using a belt until her hands would swell up and her skin started cracking. She told that she had no idea as to why such treatment was being meted out to her.
#WATCH: Alleging torture by jail officials, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal, breaks down while addressing the party workers pic.twitter.com/UVUomvmJZ2
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019
“Itni gandi gaali dete the peet tey peet tey, ulta latkatey thi kehte the tujhe nirvastra Karenge. Raat bhar peet tey peet tey jab mere haath fatne lagte the aur unhone bhay hota tha ke purey faat jayenge, khoon aajaye to uss samay rok dete the. Balti mai garam paani latey the jisme namak hota tha aur humare haatho ke unpar dubotey the” (They used to hurl filthy abuses at me and hang me upside down threatening to disrobe me. They used to thrash me whole night till the skin on my hands would start to come off. They would only stop thrashing when they feared that my hands would start bleeding. Then they would bring a bucket of hot water with salt in it and dip my bruised hands in it.), recalled Sadhvi Pragya as she broke down.
She added that the people torturing her would take turns to beat her as they would get exhausted by beating her recklessly. Calling it a conspiracy to malign Hindus, Sadhvi said that they wanted her to make a false confession that she was involved in the bomb blast to kill Muslims.
Pragya Singh Thakur while alleging torture by jail officials says, “Vo kehalvana chahte the ki tumne ek visfot kiya hai aur Muslimo ko maara hai…..subah ho jati thi pit’te pit’te, log badal jate the peetne wale, lekin pitne wali main sirf akeli rehti thi.” pic.twitter.com/C0T8rzByVn
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019
“Mujhe nahi pata tha ke iska karan kya hai aur kyun mujhe peta ja raha hai“, (I had no idea what was the reason behind it and why I was being tortured.) she said. She found out about the intentions of those torturing her only after the interrogation started.
She told that they asked her whether she was a terrorist and whether RSS was a terrorist organisation. “Aur jab unhone puchna shuru kiya tha kuch baat hi nahi thi. Tumne visphot kiya visphot kiya. Fir bola tum aatankvadi ho, RSS aatankvadi hai. Phir boltey the ki tum kis kis se milte thi batao maine kaha mujhe kuch nahi pata“, (And when they started questioning me, they only wanted me to confess that I was a terrorist and that the RSS was a terrorist organisation. They asked me who all I had met. I said I don’t know), said Sadhvi Pragya.
‘Mujhe samaj mai aagaya ke kahe na kahe Hindutava ko target kiya ja raha hai. Sanyasi jivan ko gaali de jaite hai. Mai mere nahi hoon, mera kuch nahi hai aur jo kuch bhi hai desh ka hai. Baas itna vichar karke mai peete thi”, (I had understood that they wanted to target Hindutva. They abused a Sanyasi but I thought that I belong to the country and with this thought, I kept tolerating everything), she added.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is contesting from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency against Congress candidate Digvijay SIngh. Meanwhile, Tehseen Poonawalla, a Congress supporter, has filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against Sadhvi Pragya’s candidature.
Tehseen Poonawalla files complaint with Election Commission against candidature of Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal Parliamentary constituency by BJP for #LokSabhaElections2019 ; “requests EC to debar her from contesting elections as she is a terror accused”. pic.twitter.com/hCyfeSgFnX
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019
He has requested the EC to debar her from contesting in view of the charges on her in the Malegaon Blast case. An application has also been filed before the NIA court by a Malegaon Blast victim’s father seeking to bar her from fighting the election.
