Delhi: Woman Accuses SHO Of Assault, Abuses And Threats

Hamida breaks into tears as she recalls the night she was detained and assaulted at Delhi’s Dayalpur police station where she was allegedly beaten up with a plastic hose pipe and a baton by the police. 

Marks of the brutal assault are still stark on her body, even after two weeks.

37-year-old Hamida, a resident of Dayalpur in Northeast Delhi has alleged that she was brutally beaten up by the SHO while in custody. She was detained after a petty tiff between her neighbour and tenant on 30th August, snowballed into a scuffle.

Hamida and her husband Mumtaz who are partially disabled own a house in Nehru Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Northeast Delhi. The couple rented a confectionary shop in the building to one Kareem, who is a resident of the same locality but lives at a distance. The shop is run by Kareem’s sons Suhel and Suheb.

On 30th August, their neighbours Soni, Arif, Suhail and Shahrukh got into an argument with Suhel and Suheb. The argument between both parties spiralled and Hamida had to intervene, as her husband was not at home. The matter was settled after a while and Suheb went back home. 

Hamida explaining her ordeal to The Cognate said, “On the same day at around 8 PM, SHO Dayalpur police station along with other policemen came inquiring about me and asked me to produce the verification form and agreement of our tenant. I had an 11-month agreement which I produced before them. Then they asked me to accompany them to my tenant’s house, to which I said the address is mentioned in the agreement, I cannot go since my husband is not at home and my children are alone”.

However, she alleged that she was instead forcefully dragged into a jeep and taken to the police station for inquiry. They also took Soni, the neighbour’s son along with her.

There were around 5 policemen, of which 2 were in civil clothes and three were in uniform, there was no lady constable with them, The Cognate has learnt.

“They then took me to the police station, where one constable forced me into a small dark room, tied my hands and the SHO then thrashed my thighs and back with a green coloured plastic hose. He hurled abuses on me and beat me up brutally. I couldn’t move properly for the next two weeks”.

She accused the SHO of threatening her to keep quiet about the brutal treatment.

It was 2 AM when her husband’s brother got her out on bail. While she was leaving, she said that the SHO warned her again to remain silent.

Kareem, the tenant said that “Hamida was taken for no crime of hers. Her only mistake was that she didn’t rent out the shop to her neighbours but to us. Police have beaten that innocent woman brutally”.

On 3rd September, Hamida had filed a complaint against SHO Girish Jain in the DCP office at Seelampur, addressing the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northeast. A copy of the complaint was also sent to the Commissioner of Police Delhi, Delhi Human Rights Commission and Minority Commission of Delhi.

The Cognate has a copy of the complaint which demands strict and quick action against him.

Refuting the allegations, SHO Dayalpur, Girish Jain accused the woman of spreading lies against him. “I have not done anything to her. This is a conspiracy against me as I’ve very much controlled the crime in the area,” he told The Cognate.

“Police only reach the spot if they are informed about any mishappening. I took her to the police station only for inquiry and left her after that. All her claims are false, I don’t have anything personal against her”.

“If she is claiming so, there must be a video or CCTV footage in the police station, We are laced with CCTV surveillance, she is dragging me into a conspiracy and all her allegations are false,” he added.

While the SHO has rubbished the allegations against him, the DCP North East Delhi took to Twitter and said that Hamida’s complaint had been marked to a senior officer of the Public Grievance Cell and that enquiry was underway.

They were responding to the tweet of former Chairman, Delhi Minorities Commission, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, who had raised the issue.

Hamida said she and her family are still in shock and scared of venturing outside their house.

Hamida is thirty per cent disabled and her husband is forty per cent disabled. Mumtaz used to work as an embroidery worker but since the pandemic, they are relying on the rent they get from the tenants.