-Chittoor Dalit woman illegally detained, tortured: Anitha
-NCW should act against culprits
-AP became hub of police harassment
AMARAVATI: TDP Telugu Mahila president Vangalapudi Anitha on Tuesday urged the Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW), Delhi, to probe and take stringent action against culprits responsible for ‘custodial torture’ of a Dalit woman in Andhra Pradesh.
Anitha said Dalit woman Umamaheswari was illegally detained and tortured at the Chittoor police station despite the fact that she was found not guilty of theft. The NCW should investigate and take deterrent action against the persons responsible for the illegal detention.
The TDP leader wrote a letter to the NCW, saying that the people were suffering due to the police harassment. AP has become a hub for illegal detentions, house arrests, false cases, mid-night arrests, custodial torture, etc. A series of incidents have taken place and the latest is the custodial torture of Dalit woman, Umamaheswari, by the Chittoor town police.
Anitha said without verifying facts, the police had summoned Umamaheswari to the police station continuously for two days and tortured her. She was beaten in the name of investigating a theft that she was falsely accused of. Umamaheswari had to face this because she was working as a domestic maid at the house of Venugopal Reddy, Chittoor Jail Superintendent, Chittoor.
The TDP leader said that the Dalit woman was accused of stealing an amount to the tune of Rs. 2 Lakhs from the house of Venugopal Reddy. As soon as a complaint was made, the police started forcing and torturing Umamaheswari to confess to the theft. The general public was condemning the police brutality against the innocent woman.
Anitha told the NCW Chairperson that it was eventually revealed that somebody known to Venugopal Reddy had taken the amount from his house. Despite this, the Dalit woman was tortured in the police station only to cover up their mistake. The police have completely transgressed the women’s rights and also went against the judgments of the Supreme Court with regard to arrests and custodial torture.
The TDP leader strongly appealed to the NCW to take stringent action against culprits for torturing an innocent Dalit woman in the police custody. Deterrent punishment should be given to the perpetrators so that such incidents would not repeat.
