Members of All India Democratic Women’s Association complained of police using force against them at a marriage hall near Thilagar Tidal police station after they refused to leave the mandapam and demanded to be remanded on Tuesday evening.
The association State secretary, S.K. Ponnuthai said that the AIDWA and Democratic Youth Federation of India members, who were arrested for staging a road roko near Periyar Bus Stand were lodged in a marriage hall.
In the evening, when the police said that R. Charles (23), a DYFI functionary, would be arrested on the charge of smashing a windscreen of a police bus, all the 51 members of DYFI and AIDWA protested.
“We said that it was broken when the cadres were pushed by the police inside the bus. We asked the police to remand all the 52 arrested persons and not only Charles,” Ms. Ponnuthai said.
The cadres refused to leave the mandapam putting up a human wall around Charles.
Ms. Ponnuthai complained that scores of policemen barged into the marriage hall and started attacking all the cadres, including women. She added that 19 of them underwent treatment at a private hospital. “Scanning was done on Saravanan and Sumathi who were injured in lathi charge,” she said.
A senior police officer denied that any force was used against the protesters. “Its a false allegation,” he said.
He said that the cadres deliberately attempted to stage protest at Meenakshi Bazar where the association has got a legal stay against holding protests.