Mumbai: The growing popularity of Byculla jail inmate Manjula Shette led to her alleged murder by six prison guards, and was the culmination of a two-month-long ego tussle, inmates told the police. The guards, they said, were unhappy with her status among the prisoners, and had allegedly been persecuting her at every opportunity.
On Tuesday, five more inmates with the prison recorded their statements with the Nagpada police in connection with the probe. Police said they have corroborated the sequence of events as narrated by Shette’s co-inmate Mariyam Sheikh, who had told the police that Shette had been thrashed, stripped and sexually assaulted by the prison guards named in the FIR.
“The inmates have all corroborated the sequence of events that was narrated by the Shette's fellow inmate, Mariyam Sheikh, who is the complainant in the case. All five inmates were present in the barracks when the six guards assaulted Shette, and witnessed the entire incident first-hand,” the officer said.
Shette, a murder convict, had been transferred to Byculla from Yerawada Central Prison in Pune three months ago, as there was a shortage of warders in the Byculla prison. A warder is an inmate entrusted by the prison staff to take care of certain day-to-day duties. She was allegedly assaulted by six guards at the prison on Friday and died the same evening. An FIR for murder had been registered at Nagpada police station against the six guards.
An officer who is part of the investigation said, “Inquiries with the inmates indicate that within a month of her transfer to Byculla jail, Shette’s popularity began growing among the prisoners, just like it had among the inmates at Yerawada jail. She would ensure that prisoners under her charge were well cared-for, and they too started liking her. A mutual respect developed between her and the prisoners, and the guards did not like this.”
Police claimed that inmates said the guards would run the prison with an iron hand. Around two months ago, they allegedly began targeting Shette for trivial reasons, and there were frequent arguments which culminated in the murderous assault last week. Police are now making further inquiries with the inmates to find out if she had been assaulted in the past.
Commission sends notice
The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued a notice the Additional Director General, Prisons and the Special Inspector General, Prisons in connection with the matter. The notice has instructed both senior officers to appear before the commission with a report of their inquiry into the matter on Thurday.
Meanwhile, Advocate Nazneen Khatri, President of the Women's Cell of the Jai Ho Foundation, on Tuesday submitted complaints to the State Human Right Commission and the State Women’s Rights Commission. She has also written to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in connection with the matter.
Ms. Khatri said, “I have demanded that strict action be taken against the guards and the case be transferred to the CBI or any other special investigative agency for a fair probe. I have further demanded that the family of the deceased be compensated, and inmates who are eyewitnesses be transferred to another prison so that jail authorities cannot threaten or intimidate them.”
