In yet another instance of alleged brutality by the Mumbai police, a young woman and her companion were beaten up inside the Andheri police station, after they taken were taken for quarrelling in public at the nearby metro railway station in the city.
The Mumbai police found themselves on the defensive, as a video of the incident – shot on a smartphone – went viral in the social media. The video showed the police personnel and ladies beating a woman and her companion.
Eyewitnesses said that the incident took place at the Andheri police station on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Confirming that the police had taken the couple to the station from Andheri railway station, Assistant Commissioner of Police Dilip Rupwate said: “Both were fighting and police wanted to separate them”. He, however, denied that the couple had either suffered any injuries or had they lodged a complaint with the police.
Police claimed that the woman and man, taken to the police station, were made to sit separately and after a while the woman got scared and started creating a commotion. “That was when the police started slapping her,” a senior officer said.
However, media reports said that she was bleeding profusely because of the beating she received at the hands of the police station. The two were released with a warning.
According to the police, the woman is a resident of Nalasopara, a far-flung northern suburb of Mumbai, while her companion lives at Byculla in South Mumbai. The two work at a call centre in the Malad in north Mumbai. The couple was picked by the police when they saw them fighting at the Andheri metro station.
An eyewitness, who works for an NGO, filmed the entire incident on camera has demanded action against the cops.
Meanwhile, AAP has condemned the incident and demanded action against the erring police officials.