Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, May 25: A dalit woman from the city, Suneeta, has claimed that she had gone to hand over an appeal to the chief minister seeking issuance of title deeds for the land she resides in but has charged the personal assistant (PA) of the chief minister and policemen on security duty of deriding her with filthy words and threatening to file case of running a brothel against her ti spoil her image.
She spoke at the press conference held by former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, at Vidhan Soudha on Tuesday May 24. She said that having been harassed by the above ill treatment, she had thought of ending her life. "I happen to be a resident of Pipeline Road in Vijayanagara in the city, and had visited chief minister's home office, 'Krishna' at 3 pm on May 17 to hand over an appeal seeking title deeds in my name. The policemen asked me to come back at 4. When I went thee at 4, they again told me to return at 5. They let in several people who came from Varuna constituency in Mysuru, but I was made to wait. At 6 pm, I sent back my husband and children and waited there. The chief minister's personal assistant told me that the meeting will end at 9 pm and told me that I do not have permission to stand near the gate and asked me to go and stand near the footpath. Then two women police constables who came in police vehicle took me away and began raining obscene words at me," she claimed.
"The policemen stopped their vehicle on the road behind Highground police station and threatened me of booking me under case pertaining to running of a brothel and of removing my clothes. I was made to sit at High Grounds police station where policemen abused me. I was then taken to ladies hostel where I found a letter written to the hostel by the station house officer and secretly kept it with me at midnight. One of the constables, Jayashree, came to me seeking to know whereabouts of that letter, on May 16 and tortured me," she stated. She said she was told that she would face torture every day if she does not leave the remand home. "When my husband came at 11.30 am, he was accused of using his wife to create ruckus. They threatened him of registering case for moving about under suspicious circumstances. They also called the owner of the auto and asked him not to give auto rickshaw on hire to my husband," she explained further.
She said the policemen got a letter of confession in his own writing signed by her husband which said her husband was at fault. As per the suggestion of a police constable there, she said she approached Kumaraswamy for justice.
Reacting to the allegation, chief minister, Siddaramaiah, said that the government will take steps if the woman had faced problems. He decried Kumaraswamy's initiative in holding a press conference on the issue at Vidhan Soudha.
Kumaraswamy threatened to hold protest in front of chief minister's home office, 'Krishna' if justice is not done to Suneeta within 72 hours by way of issuing title deeds within 48 days and taking steps against the staff of chief minister's office and police department who insulted the woman. Home minister, Dr G Parameshwar, said that the policemen had taken Suneeta to the police station and made to sit there as precautionary measure as she had threatened to consume poison.