12-07-11. Gujarat High Court at Sola in Ahmedabad. Photo by Kevin Antao.
They named nine police personnel, including four women constables, who allegedly beat and humiliated them during the parade on Oct 9. The petition was filed by four Dhandhuka farmers — Hussain Malvat, Mohammedhusain Modan, Dadik Modan and Imran Maru — who claimed they went to the police station to file a complaint of trespassing and crop damage. On the way, they had a face-off with owners of cattle which had allegedly damaged their crops. Police insisted on registering complaints from both sides. Petitioners alleged that they were illegally detained, beaten and paraded in public with their hands tied with ropes on inspector Gohil’s instructions. These measures followed Supreme Court directions in the D K Basu judgment on handling persons in police custody. The petition named nine police personnel, including Gohil and four women constables. One policeman was not identified by name, prompting HC to inquire how it could issue notice to an unknown person.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court on Friday issued notices to Ahmedabad Range IG, SP (rural) and nine police officers from Dhandhuka police station, including its in-charge inspector B T Gohil, on a petition seeking contempt of court action over alleged custodial torture and public humiliation. .
Gohil is already facing another contempt of court case, in which HC framed charges against him over the 2016 custodial torture and public parading of an accused in Rajkot.
Syed said the applicants sought punishment for the police personnel, production of CCTV footage and medico-legal case papers from the hospital, besides appropriate compensation for the public humiliation and ill-treatment allegedly meted out to them.