"I was groped, dragged by the hair, bundled into police van"

I was groped, dragged by the hair, bundled into police van: Jadavpur University student

Dwaipayan Ghosh,TNN | Sep 18, 2014, 12.50 AM IST

KOLKATA: A Jadavpur University third-year student, who joined the agitation because she knows the earlier molestation victim and was shocked by her "character assassination" by the internal probe committee, did not have an inkling of the horror that was to follow. She, too, was molested. Shaken, she asks: "If this is the face of the law enforcer, can law really prevail in such a land?" Here is her account:

Around 1pm, we heard that police were assembling near gate 1. I was surprised. Some cops had approached us earlier and asked us to move, but we told them that our peaceful demonstration would continue. There was enough scope for further negotiations and JUTA (Jadavpur University Teachers' Association) was trying to mediate.

By the next half hour, there were several of them right in front Aurobindo Bhavan. The next thing I knew was I being groped, shoved, hit and pulled by a mass of brawny men — some in uniform, others in plainclothes. Two female cops stood to one side, watching in silence. Suddenly, the area plunged into darkness, the only lights coming from TV cameras recording the brutality. I found one of my female friends being dragged towards a police van outside. When I tried to help her, two men lunged at me and dragged me by my hair. Two other men began pulling at my T-shirt, trying to force me towards the van.

When they bundled us in, there was no woman cop inside the van. We were left at the mercy of five cops and two homeguards. I tried to argue that women cannot be arrested after sundown, but police paid no heed and instead took us to the Lalbazar central lock-up. I said I wanted to lodge a molestation FIR against the accused officers. Even as I kept repeating my rights, police shoved me into another van, saying that I had to be taken for a mandatory medical test. Thankfully, this time there were a couple of women cops.

They took me all the way back to Bangur Hospital. The 'medical test' was a mere blood pressure test after which they forced me to sign on some documents against my wishes. After the test got over — and to my utter surprise — they took me to Jadavpur police station. I asked some extremely rude cops why I was brought there but they told me to keep shut. After some time, a senior officer gave a rather surprising explanation. He said "it was safer" for me to stay in the police station than the campus. I again said I wanted to lodge a molestation case against the cops, but no one paid any heed.

They let me off early morning. Till now, I have no clue whether I was arrested or merely detained. I am worried about the signatures I put in. Please do not put in my name as my family will get nervous. But tell me, if the government commits such atrocities, can the youth just sit and watch?"