Mumbai: Senior Shiv Sena leader and MLC Neelam Gorhe on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the death of convict Manjula Govind Shette at the Byculla jail on Friday. Shette died at the government-run JJ Hospital on Friday night after allegedly being beaten up by women prison guards.
Speaking to newspersons at the Sena office, Ms. Gorhe claimed Shette was mercilessly beaten up over a trivial issue and demanded a judicial probe into her death and action against the culprits. She said she would be raising the issue in the Legislative Council through a calling attention notice in the monsoon session next month.
“Shette was dragged, stripped and sexually assaulted. She was hit on the head with a stick and there were injury marks all over her body,” Ms. Gorhe said, and demanded that jail officials involved be immediately arrested as their suspension is not enough. She also demanded that statements of all jail inmates who were witness to the incident be recorded in-camera.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ms. Gorhe said the assault appears to be premeditated, and wondered how her death can be recorded as ‘unnatural’. “In the past, a committee consisting of women legislators would conduct inspection of jails and submit a report to the government,” she said, and demanded that it be revived. She said the government should come out with a policy to ensure safety of women inmates in prisons across the state.