Forced to say Jai Shri Ram: Woman claims Delhi Police tortured her for speaking in Bengali
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Delhi Police of torturing a Bengali-speaking family, including a child, for speaking Bengali. The family, led by Sajnur Parveen, claims they were assaulted and forced to say "Jai Shri Ram."
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that a Delhi labourer's family was tortured for speaking in Bengali and her child was also beaten up by the Delhi Police, and the latter has refuted the allegations after the video was released.
Now, the ruling TMC in the state has provided their evidence to support that allegation. The woman who was allegedly tortured was made to sit in the press conference.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh and Mayor Firhad Hakim held a press conference on Wednesday about the woman, a resident of Malda. Kunal Ghosh said that the woman will also file a complaint with the Kolkata Police.
What exactly is the woman complaining about?
The woman's name is Sajnur Parveen, and she lived in Delhi's Pandav Nagar. She and her family have been in Delhi for several years. It is alleged that they were taken away from their home and tortured.
Sajnur said, "Four people came on the first day. They said they were police officers. They told us to show our Aadhaar card. They were looking for my husband and said we were Bangladeshis. The next day, four more people came. Two of them were women. We were asked to go with them."
Sajnur claims that she and her child were taken to a place and tortured. The woman said, "They slapped me twice. Then they said, 'Say Jai Shri Ram.' I said, 'I am a Muslim. How can I say Jai Shri Ram?' Then they kicked me in the stomach. They also tried to take away my son. They threw the son away. They hit him in the ear so hard that blood was coming out. They said that if we pay Rs 25,000, we will be released. After informing the husband, my mother-in-law arrived with the money. Then we were released."
After returning home in the evening, the police allegedly took them to the police station. Then more torture followed. Sajnur said, "They told us, ‘West Bengal means Bangladeshi. You are Bangladeshi.’ They were so intimidating, what can I say?” Sajnur also claims that they have made them sign in many places.
What did the Delhi Police claim?
The Delhi Police has rejected the claims of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee that the personnel assaulted a Bengali-speaking woman and her child. DCP East Delhi Abhishek Dhania refuted her claim and said that Mamata's claim was "fabricated and baseless”.
Dhania said, "Based on technical and local intelligence, as well as CCTV camera footage, we have gathered various evidence. Based on that evidence, we found out that the whole story told by this lady is baseless.”
He further said that during the police probe, the woman said that her relative living in Bengal's Malda district is a political worker, and advised her to make the video and share it with him. He said, "Later, he circulated the video in the local media... After a thorough investigation and inquiry, we have concluded that the entire video is baseless and fabricated... Further investigation is still going on.”