A Garo woman from Lower Nogolpara village under Dainadubi police station in North Garo Hills of Meghalaya was allegedly brutally assaulted at Dudhnoi police station in Assam’s Goalpara district.
The incident occurred on July 5 (Tuesday) in connection with a coal theft case triggering widespread protest from Garo organisations of the state.
Two police personnel identified as SI Bishnu Bahadur Newar and woman police constable Mamata Joshi who were involved in the police excesses on the Garo woman have been suspended. A case has been registered against the two police personnel at the 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 Dudhnoi 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 slang 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 lakhs 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. The woman received grevious injuries all over her body.
The incident has triggered protests from Garo Students’ Union, Assam State Zone (GSU-ASZ) as the student body wrote to the Goalpara superintendent of police for immediate action
