Public parade of Patidar woman turning out to be a headache for Gujarat BJP

Congress is trying to corner the government for "ill-treating" a woman from the community.

Ahmedabad: The public parading of a Patidar woman in Amreli district in connection with a fake letter scandal involving BJP leaders is turning into a pain in the BJP government's neck with opposition Congress trying to corner the government for "ill-treating" a woman from the community.  

On Monday, scores of Congress leaders including former Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Paresh Dhanani were apprehended by the police ahead of their protest in Surat, the BJP bastion over the issues. An application has also been filed before the Director General of Police for taking action against the erring policemen.

Back in Amerli, the district superintendent of police (SP) suspended three policemen, all constables, which is reported to be a fall-out of rising protests. Despite repeated attempts, Amreli SP Sanjay Kharat did not respond for comment. 

On the other hand, the investigation of the case has been handed over to State Monitoring Cell, a special wing of state police, which was recently accorded the status of a police station.

The local police arrested four persons including two BJP workers -Manish Vaghasia, Ashok Magroliya, one Jitu Khatra and Payal Goti. They were arrested for forging the letterhead of Kishor Kanpariya, president of Amreli taluka panchayat and wrote defamatory contents against the local BJP MLA Kaushik Vekariya, who is also the deputy whip of the party in the state assembly. 

Goti, belonging to the influential Patidar community, was accused by the police to have typed the letter which was then shared on social media. Following their arrests, the local police paraded the accused including Goti in the name of reconstruction of crime in full public view. Local Congress leaders condemned the act and said it was an "insult" to the community and its daughter.

As the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party leaders raised the issue, the police filed an affidavit in the local court, stating that Goti had no role in the crime as she was merely a typist who was following her boss's instruction. She was granted bail on the same day and walked out of jail. 

On Monday, she moved to the Director General of Police by filing an application through lawyer Anand Yagnki for filing an FIR against the erring policemen for parading her in public. 

She has also mentioned the name of minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi for publicly making speeches asking the police to treat suspects in "their own language."

According to the complaint, the police have filed a report in the court for exonerating Goti from the case. However, the court rejected the application. She has demanded criminal as well as departmental action against the policemen who paraded her in public against the guidelines of Supreme Court  and violation of human rights of an individual.

On Sunday, Rajkot BJP MP Parshottam Rupala said that police should not have paraded the Patidar woman in public. He said that the police acted in "haste."