The Lok Sabha secretariat has through the Ministry of Home Affairs asked for a “factual note” from Maharashtra government on arrest of Amravati MP Navneet Rana and also sought explanation on her letter to Speaker Om Birla, where she alleged of “inhuman treatment” meted out to her in Khar Police Station in Mumbai on Monday.
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Ms. Rana and her MLA husband were arrested on Saturday by the Mumbai Police after they gave a call for the chanting 'Hanuman Chalisa' on a loudspeaker outside Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence which triggered angry protests by Shiv Sainiks. The couple was arrested under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with assault or use of criminal force against a public servant in the execution of his duty and sedition. They have been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
Ms. Rana in a letter to Mr. Birla alleged that she was denied water for the entire night on her arrest on Saturday because she is a Dalit. She was detained for the night at the Khar Police Station. The next day, she was sent to the Byculla women's jail in Mumbai while her husband Ravi Rana was taken to Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.
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Alleges discrimination
"I was abused on the basis on my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided." She said that she asked for water through the night but the police did not respond.
She went on to add, "To my shock and disbelief, the police staff present told me that I belong to Scheduled Caste and hence they will not give me water in the same glass. Thus, I was directly abused on the basis of my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided."
Also, when she wanted to use the bathroom at the night, she alleged that the police staff paid no heed to her demands. "I was again abused in the most filthy language...I was told that we don’t let people from Neechi Zaat Scheduled Castes use our bathrooms." This she said, is a denial of basic human rights.
Ms. Rana also defended her decision to hold the Hanuman Chalisa recital, saying it was her sincere hope to “rekindle the flame of Hindutva in Shiv Sena”. The action was not meant to incite any religious tension and was neither targeted at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
"However, looking to the fact that my actions may prove detrimental to law and order situation in Mumbai, I had publicly withdrawn from the said exercise and declared that I shall not be going to CM's residence. I was confined with my husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, in my house," she added.