Two women, who were summoned for questioning in an alleged kidnap case, were tortured by a police officer in Kukatpally police station on Friday night. The brutal act, telecast by a Telugu TV channel, invited widespread criticism forcing the higher authorities to suspend the Sub-Inspector Saidulu on Saturday.
The two siblings, Laxmi and Durga, both residents of Addagutta Society in KPHB Colony, were summoned by the police officer to enquire about their brother Nagaraju, who allegedly eloped with a married woman nearly eight months ago.
The women, made to stand in the corridor, were forced to proffer their hands and beaten with a strip of hard rubber, cut out of truck tyres. As the women cried out in pain, the police officer went on repeatedly hitting them and one of them fell down. Other police officers in the station went about their work nonchalantly as the tyre piece was used repeatedly. The brutal act was recorded on a spy cam used by the TV crew. The footage was telecast on Saturday night.
Inquiries revealed that the women’s brother Nagaraju, a security guard, had allegedly eloped with a married woman in December, 2011. Her husband Devadas lodged a complaint that his wife was missing. The woman, police said, returned home later and claimed that Nagaraju had abducted her. The missing case was then altered as a kidnap. Nagaraju, however, continued to evade police. Believing that his two sisters could lead police to him, the SI sent woman constables to their house and brought them to the police station. The ‘tyre treatment’ was given to them without any mercy even as they were abused in filthy language.
The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, ordered the suspension. An inquiry was ordered into the incident.
