JOIN USEnsure justice to 'harassed' dalit woman in two days, Kumaraswamy tells CM
Janata Dal (S) State President H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday set a two-day deadline for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to render justice to a 25-year old dalit woman who has claimed that the police harassed and humiliated her for standing in front of chief minister’s home office.
At a press conference held at the Vidhana Soudha in the presence of Sunitha, the “harassed woman,” Kumaraswamy sought that criminal and atrocity cases be booked against the police personnel responsible for humiliating the woman.
Kumaraswamy said the government should provide a loan of Rs 5 lakh to the victim for her livelihood from the Ambedkar Development Corporation.
Kumaraswamy said he would stage an infinite dharna if his demands were not met in two days.
Sunitha said she along with her husband Muthuraj, an auto driver, and two children went to “Krishna”, the home office of the chief minister on May 17 at 2 pm for an audience with Siddaramaiah.
The family lives in a house on Pipeline, Magadi Road but the katha had not been issued despite repeated visits to officials.
“I was told that the chief minister would meet us at 4 pm. However, nothing happened till 6 pm. My kids had not even had their lunch. So my husband took them home and I stayed back. Around 6.30 pm a woman police constable asked me what I was doing. I told her that I was waiting for the chief minister. All of a sudden she started abusing me in foul language. She said that she suspected that I was into prostitution”, Sunitha said with tears rolling down her eyes.
Sunitha said she was later taken to the High Grounds police station where she was again abused.
From the station, she was taken to State Home for Women on Hosur Road, where further humiliation awaited her.
The woman police also tried to disrobe her and snatch away her mobile phone, Sunitha claimed.
She was let off the next morning after taking an undertaking from her husband. Kumaraswamy disputed Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh’s statement that the police took the woman into custody as she tried to commit suicide in front of “Krishna”.
He produced a letter written by the station house officer of the High Grounds police station to the superintendent, State Home for Woman that Sunitha was taken into custody for moving in a suspicious manner on Kumara Krupa Road, where “Krishna” is located. Kumaraswamy said that after the incident, a private money lender who had promised to provide a loan of Rs 5 Lakh to Sunitha to run a bakery had back-tracked.
Gowda promises help
JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda has promised to help the family purchase an autorickshaw.
Gowda, who slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his “insensitive” remarks, said that Muthurajan and his wife Savitha had fallen on hard times. “Muthurajan is finding it difficult to get an auto on rent. I will help him buy the vehicle,” he said. He said Siddaramaiah had been politicising any issue highlighted by the JD(S).
“Nobody indulges in politics when it concerns a dalit woman. Siddaramaiah should take note of the seriousness of the matter,” the former prime minister said.