In a shocking incident that allegedly took place in Punjab, a Dalit woman accused Punjab police of torturing her by striping her naked in the custody. The incident has been reported from Khannauri police station in Sangrur on 21st April 2022. Punjab state scheduled caste (SC) commission has ordered the Sangrur police to conduct a probe in this case. It is notable that Punjab’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann comes from Sangrur and he has earlier represented this constituency in Lok Sabha.
The incident came to light when the Dalit woman appeared before the state scheduled caste commission during a public hearing (Lok Adalat) held at the district administrative complex in Sangrur on Thursday 21st April 2022. The 42-year-old Dalit woman works as a maid to earn her living. Appearing at the public hearing, the Dalit woman alleged that she was taken into illegal detention on March 22 this year, two days after a theft took place at an upper-class household where she works. She also alleged that the Punjab police kept her naked at the police station, did not provide her food or water, and brutalized her.
She told the commission, “Khanauri station house officer (SHO), inspector Malwinder Singh, took me to the police station and thrashed me. A female cop forcefully removed my clothes and hit me with sticks on the direction of the SHO. They had locked me up in the police station without food and water. They released me the next evening after my brother, nephew, and panchayat members intervened.”
Commission member Chandreshwar Singh Mohi said, “The victim said the SHO had tortured her so as to get her to confess to a crime she did not commit. I also called the SHO to the Lok Adalat and asked him to present evidence of his innocence, but he failed to do so.”
Mohi further added, “the village sarpanch and panchayat members have testified to the atrocities faced by the victim as she was released after their intervention. I have also recorded the statement of the SHO. After hearing both sides, I have directed Sangrur police to conduct a probe and submit its report to the commission”.
Bhagwan Valmiki welfare society president Raju Gagat said that they had approached the SSP after the woman was detained by police, but no action was taken. Therefore they approached the SC commission.
However the accused police officer inspector Malwinder Singh has denied the allegations. “I was also present before the commission when the woman made these allegations. All her claims are baseless,” he claimed.
Punjab police are at the center of controversy right from the beginning of the calendar year 2022. In the first week of the year, a major breach occurred in the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was at that time on his tour to Punjab. At that time there was a Congress government in the state and Charanjit Singh Channi was the chief minister. In the assembly elections of February 2022, Congress lost, and Aam Aadmi Party won. Bhagwant Mann became the chief minister. After that, the Punjab government ordered a reshuffle of top police officers including those who took strict action against the sand mafias in the recent past. Now this case has appeared in which a Dalit woman accused the Punjab police of such harassment.
