Chandbali: Brutality of police crossed all limits in Bhadrak district when the video of a Dalit woman being beaten up and dragged in front of the police station here went viral on social media, Wednesday.
The video shows three male police officers assaulting a woman on the premises of the police station, sparking widespread condemnation. The victim has lodged a complaint with the police.
As per the complaint, Mita Sethi, wife of Sambhuram Sethi under Chandbali NAC, along with her minor sister-in-law and her three-year-old daughter had gone to meet her husband at Chandbali police station Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, Mita saw her daughter playing with a discarded shoe box near the police station. She snatched it from her and threw away. Constable Rabindra Sethi present there questioned Mita as to why she threw the garbage outside the PS instead of using the dustbin.
This enraged Mita, who said, “Is this your father’s place? I will throw it wherever I want.” Infuriated, the constable slapped her multiple times. Mita also retaliated by verbally abusing Rabindra and throwing a stone at him. As it was raining, Mita moved towards the Hanuman temple in front of the PS.
After this, ASI Nepal Saha, the constable and driver Kishore Mohapatra went to the temple, thrashed Meeta with a plastic pipe and dragged her in the rain to the station.
In the struggle, Mita’s sari was ripped apart, and she started bleeding from her ear. It is also alleged that her minor sister-in-law was beaten when she tried to intervene. The entire incident was recorded by some onlookers and posted on social media.
Bhadrak SP Varun Guntupalli has formed a committee comprising Chandbali SDPO Kartik Chandra Mallik and Chandbali police station in-charge Panchanan Mohanty to investigate and report on the incident.
ASI Nepal Saha and Constable Rabindra Sethi have been transferred to the Bhadrak district headquarters. Regarding the public beating of a woman by three male police officers, Chandbali SDPO Kartik Chandra Mallik stated that he had seen the incident on mobile and that they will submit the investigation report to the SP. The Dalit Mahasangh of Chandbali has demanded the suspension of the involved police personnel.
PNN