Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jul 25: "When I had been to Kulshekhar church for offering prayers, we heard a commotion. The policemen burst tear gas shells. Some of us went into the toilet after being chased away and locked up ourselves. The policemen came near the toilet and started kicking at the door. It felt as if the door would give way. But suddenly they went back. We then found that the door of the toilet had been closed by sliding the outside bolt," said Ashma Monteiro, lecturer of St Aloysius College in the city, explaining the harrowing experience she and others had during the visit to Kulshekhar church in the city on September 15, 2008.
Cross examination of church attack witnesses continued on the final day of the present sitting of Justice B K Chandrashekhara Commission of Inquiry at Circuit House in the city on Friday July 24. Ashma was giving a detailed account of the incidents that occurred, in response to the questions put to her by advocate for the policemen M Narayan Reddy, to explain what had happened that day.
"The policemen forced open the lock of the church's gate by hitting it with the help of .330 rifle. With the same rifle, they hit a six year-old child. My left ear hurt and my ear ring suffered a bend due to the assault of the policemen. As we were pushed down by the policemen, some of us fell to the ground floor. Then we had to spend three hours inside a toilet. We called someone over mobile and then came out," she stated.
Even now, the spot where I was beaten up, hurts, she added, stating that she underwent treatment for the pain for six months, explaining that even now she is forced to go on leave often because of the pain. She refused to accept the contention of the advocate that she was lying under pressure from leaders and asserted that whatever she had stated in the sworn affidavit, was true.
When advocate Narayan Reddy presented a CD of the video filmed during the incidents, lawyer M P Noronha representing the witnesses opposed. He held himself against admitting the CD because of the delay and also arguing that the CD does not have any relevance to the inquiry. However, as the photographs in the CD had already been produced before the Commission earlier, the CD was taken on record. Ashma, after viewing the CD, admitted that the building shown in the CD was indeed Kulshekhar church and expressed ignorance about its other contents.
During the cross examination by advocates for the government L N Hegde and Prasanna Deshpande, Ashma said she had sought justice through her affidavit. She feigned ignorance about the fact that the government had paid a sum of Rs 1,500 towards her medical expenses.
Advocate for Bajrang Dal showed a CD to Ashma and questioned her on its contents. "As far as I know, no one with saffron shawls were present there. I am not aware that Bajrang Dal is a registered organization and that its members wear saffron shawls. I have heard that Sri Rama Sene exists in the district but I am not aware that they wear saffron shawls," she added.
The commission wanted to complete the cross-examination of 24 witnesses during its three-day sitting but could complete only six. It was decided to continue with the cross examination of Ashma during the next sitting of the Commission in the city.
There were heated exchanges between lawyers Jagadish Shenava and M P Noronha when Jagadish Shenava raised the issue of the murder of Lakshmanananda Swamiji in Kandhamal, Orissa and closure of St Aloysius College in protest against the attacks, without obtaining government's permission.