Hubballi (Karnataka), Jan 7 (PTI) A controversy has erupted in Karnataka following allegations that the police disrobed a BJP woman functionary while arresting her recently here in connection with an attack on government officials.
Police rejected the woman’s allegation, saying she removed her clothes herself and also attacked the cops, causing them bite injuries.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah blamed the woman for the incident, while the BJP alleged that its party functionary was disrobed by the police. A video of the woman being topless has gone viral, sparking a row.
Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner N Shashikumar on Wednesday dismissed her allegations, claiming the woman not only disrobed herself but also bit four police officers, including two sub-inspectors, in their abdomen.
According to sources, there was an encroachment of government land. To clear it, revenue officials had gone there with policemen, and they were attacked by the alleged illegal occupants.
A case was registered in this connection, and the woman was a key accused. When a police team went to pick her up, she resisted arrest, they claimed.
The police team overpowered her and bundled her into the police vehicle.
Videos of the woman emerged showing her topless. She alleged the police team disrobed her.
Refuting the charge, Shashikumar explained the chronology of the events to reporters.
He said that when government officers went to the Chalukya Nagar area of Keshwapur in Hubballi, for a land survey, people quarrelled with them and attacked them.
Three separate cases were registered in this connection. The Investigation Officer (IO) decided to arrest one of the women involved in the offence.
While arresting her, the IO had shown utmost restraint and precaution. He had taken about 8-10 women officers and staff, knowing very well that there was a possibility of some nuisance, Shashikumar said.
“Despite that, when she was taken inside the police vehicle, she undressed herself. Our women officers and staff took the assistance of local people and got a separate dress for her and requested her repeatedly to wear it,” the officer said.
“So the accusation against the police is absolutely false, and it is made with all bad intentions. I have verified the sequence of events,” Shashikumar said.
He said he has still asked the Deputy Commissioner of Police to conduct a thorough inquiry into the sequence of events from January 1 to 5.
Shashikumar said the woman has about nine cases pending against her. She has been sent to judicial custody. Four women police officers got injured in the melee, he said.
“Two were very badly injured because she bit them in their abdomen, and two others have also sustained some injuries. And three to four of our male staff have also sustained some injuries. But they thought, you know, it’s part of our job, and why should complain,” Shashikumar said.
“Male officers and staff have not given any complaint, but lady officers, two of them are very badly injured and have filed a complaint,” he added.
Speaking to reporters in Haveri, Siddaramaiah said the accused woman had bitten police officers.
“When police officers went to arrest her she bit many officers. It’s very bad. There was an FIR against her. When police personnel went to arrest her, she beat them and bit them,” the chief minister said.
He said no one should take the law into their hands, and if they do so, they will face legal action.
The Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, condemned the police action.
“The inhuman incident that took place. Hubballi Keswapur police stripped and beat a BJP woman worker in response to a complaint filed by a Congress municipal member. This became another example of the hate politics of the Congress government in the state… bringing shame upon itself,” Ashoka alleged in a post on ‘X’.
He charged that attempts to murder opposition legislators, attacks on opposition workers, and atrocities are all becoming commonplace in Karnataka under the Congress rule.
“Congress government led by CM Siddaramaiah has imposed an undeclared emergency in the state,” he alleged.
The BJP state president, B Y Vijayendra condemned the police, saying that they “acted at the behest of the Congress workers and arrested the families of BJP workers by barging into their houses without understanding the background”.
He alleged that the incident happened at the instance of a Congress councillor when the SIR of the electoral roll was taking place.
Alleging that the police acted like Congress agents and assaulted the ‘Dalit’ victim, Vijayendra demanded stringent action against the police officers who were involved in the “atrocity” and justice to the victim.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Commission for Women, Nagalakshmi Choudhary, said she has ordered in investigation into the matter and if policemen were found at fault then action would be taken.
Following the incident, the BJP workers staged a demonstration in front of the Keshwapur Police Station. Family members of the woman too joined the protest. Later, police took them into custody. PTI GMS GMS ADB
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