Woman alleges torture in police custody; two Jharkhand officers suspended
Two police officers in Jharkhand's Latehar district have been suspended following allegations by a 33-year-old Adivasi woman that she was assaulted and hung upside down in custody during questioning over alleged poppy cultivation. The woman alleged that on October 5, plainclothes policemen accused her of involvement in poppy cultivation while she was grazing goats near Bagnadi Mahua in her village. She claimed she was taken to Bariyatu police station, tied up, hung upside down, and beaten with sticks, and subjected to sexual harassment including forced insertion of green chillies in her mouth.
According to the woman's complaint, officer-in-charge Prabhat Kumar Das and constable Manish Kumar Ram were involved in the alleged torture. She further alleged that police made her record a video statement falsely admitting involvement in poppy cultivation, threatening to withhold her motorcycle and mobile phone if she refused. The woman also claimed police searched her house and took away Rs 80,000 in savings. Chief Minister Hemant Soren directed police to take action following the allegations. The Latehar police subsequently suspended Das and Ram and initiated departmental proceedings against them.
A joint inquiry team has been formed to investigate the complaint submitted by the woman and other women, with the complaint also forwarded by the village head and mukhiya. According to police preliminary findings, Das had received information that the woman's husband and another man were allegedly involved in illegal opium sales.
