The Lambada community victim, now recovering in a hospital, alleged that she was detained by the LB Nagar police and beaten through the night.
The Opposition parties in Telangana — the BJP, the Congress, and the BSP — have hit out at the BRS government over the alleged “abuse and assault” on a tribal woman in Hyderabad’s LB Nagar police station on the night of Wednesday, 16 August, and demanded that the government provide assistance to her.
The parties slammed the BRS government for allegedly not responding to the incident so far.
They demanded that the accused cops should be arrested as a case against them under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and several other IPC Sections have already been registered
On 18 August, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it had received a complaint about the torture of the tribal woman based on a complaint from Advocate B Karthik Navayan, who also happens to be the legal advisor of the Samata Sainik Dal, a social organisation founded by BR Ambedkar in 1924.
The victim belongs to the Lambada community, which is a part of the nomadic Banjara community, and is categorised as a Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Among other demands, BJP MLA Eatala Rajender on Saturday also called for a judicial inquiry from the state government.
“The police tried to portray her as a characterless woman. Despite her pleading with them that she had gone to her brother’s residence to borrow money for her daughter’s wedding, they tortured her through the night. It needs to be revealed in the investigation if she was also sexually assaulted. The state government has washed its hands off the matter by suspending two constables,” Rajender reportedly said.
Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao, who is a former member of the Rajya Sabha, visited the victim at the hospital in Karmanghat. Later, Congress MLA from Mulugu Dansari Anasuya, also known as Seethakka, met the victim.
గాంధీజీ కలలు కన్న స్వాతంత్ర ఫలాలు ఎక్కడ?
స్వాతంత్ర్య దినోత్సవం రాత్రి 10గంటల సమయంలో పోలీసులు వడ్త్యా లక్ష్మి గిరిజన మహిళను దారుణం గా దూషిస్తూ చిత్రహింసలకు గురిచేస్తే Lb నగర్ లోని జీవన్ హాస్పిటల్ లో చికిత్స పొందుతున్న గిరిజన మహిళ.@RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @MahilaCongress pic.twitter.com/pbfkDCsLt6— Danasari Seethakka (@seethakkaMLA) August 19, 2023
Likening the incident to the police brutality on Manipur women during the ongoing unrest, Hanumantha Rao reportedly said: “I am here not as a politician but as a human being. We demand justice for her and also support for their family, as her elder daughter is getting married on 30 August.”
He added, “We have pooled ₹5 lakh for her (the daughter). We demanded financial support from the police department as well and they responded positively. If they do not keep their word, we will take it up again.”
A Telangana Congress spokesperson told South First: “We demand a government job for one of her family members, ₹15 lakh compensation, and stringent legal action on those police officers who had beaten her.”
Telangana BSP president RS Praveen Kumar demanded that Telangana Home Minister Md Mahmood Ali take moral responsibility for the incident and “should be replaced.”
Noting that it was the job of the police to protect the lives of people, he alleged, “They (LB Nagar police) treated her in the most brutal way, which is inhumane. The police officers who assaulted the tribal woman should be dismissed from duty immediately. Chief Minister #KCR is immediately Home Minister taking moral responsibility for the incident in the heart of the city Mahmood Ali should be replaced…[sic].”
స్వాతంత్య్ర దినోత్సవం రోజున అర్థరాత్రి @lbnagarps పోలీసుల థర్డ్ డిగ్రీలో తీవ్రగాయాలై #BNరెడ్డి నగర్ లోని శ్యామ్ ఆస్పత్రిలో చికిత్స పొందుతున్న గిరిజన మహిళ వడ్త్య లక్ష్మీబాయి గారిని పరామర్శించాను.
ప్రజల ప్రాణాలకు రక్షణ కల్పించాల్సిన పోలీసులే,ఆమె పట్ల అత్యంత క్రూరంగా వ్యవహరించిన… pic.twitter.com/wqfMmxCBCc— Dr.RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) August 20, 2023
The cops, on 17 August, had filed a case against two of their own personnel — a male head constable named Shiva Shanker and a woman constable named Sumalatha. Both have already been placed under suspension by the Rachakonda police.
On 19 August, K Ravi Kumar, the Sub-Inspector of Police (SI) of the LB Nagar police station, was transferred and posted to the Police Control Room (PCR) on administrative grounds.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on 18 August sought a report from senior government officials regarding the alleged assault on the woman.
YSRTP leader Sharmila Reddy staged an agitation on Sagar main road at BN Reddy Nagar, which reportedly caused heavy traffic jams.
“The government demanded immediate justice for the victim Lakshmi,” Sharmila said.
B Karthik Navayan, who wrote to the NHRC chairman and former Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra, said in a statement that he read in a vernacular daily that a tribal woman was illegally detained and brutally tortured by the police people of the LB Nagar Police Station in Hyderabad.
He also told South First earlier that he complained to the NHRC about the incident because he believed officials of higher ranks were involved in the case, and that was being covered up.
“The police personnel allegedly involved in the case have been suspended, but we want the responsible police officers to be removed from service and prosecuted according to the law, and also appropriate compensation to be paid to the victim,” said Navayan.
“I request the commission to direct the state or Central government to compensate the victim appropriately in the interest of justice,” he added.
The NHRC confirmed that it had received the complaint, and said it constituted an atrocity towards a Scheduled Tribe person under the law.
Speaking to South First earlier, the victim’s daughter, based on whose complaint the cops registered an FIR, said that her mother was picked up by the LB Nagar police’s night patrol team, after which she was shifted to the police station and physically assaulted throughout the night.
The FIR that was registered based on a complaint by Laxmi’s daughter Pooja stated that her mother left home to visit her uncle Chandru to borrow ₹3 lakh for her marriage.
She added that her brother and sister waited for their mother till late at night, but she did not return. It was then that their maternal aunt informed them about their mother’s detention at the LB Nagar Police Station.
After Laxmi’s children visited the LB Nagar Police Station and inquired about the issue, the concerned police personnel hurled casteist abuses at Laxmi and assaulted her, according to the FIR.
Pooja also stated in her complaint that her mother Laxmi had ₹3 lakh and gold earrings with her, which are now missing.
However, LB Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) B Sai Sree told South First earlier, “We don’t believe any articles went missing from the victim, but an investigation officer will be assigned to look into the case.”
They said they were looking into footage from CCTV cameras to determine or rule out whether the woman had the jewellery or cash in the first place.
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