Tribal activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader in Chhattisgarh Soni Sori returned to her home in the Bastar region on Friday to fight what she called “the final battle against police atrocities.” She was shifted to New Delhi for treatment after an acid-like substance was thrown on her face in Dantewada on February 19.
“A senior police officer has detained my sister Dhanni and her husband Ajay Markam. Today, [Friday] my other family members, including my father, went to meet him at his office in Jagdalpur. But he used abusive words against me and my family. I am being told that my entire family would be destroyed. It’s time for the final battle. I don’t know what will be the consequences, but I have to give up everything in this fight for justice and survival,” she told The Hindu .
Soni Sori, who has emerged as the face of tribal protest in Bastar, addressed a press conference in Raipur in the morning before leaving for Bastar. “I said I suspect the hand of a senior police officer, but now I am more than sure that he was behind it. Why would he otherwise trouble my family? He has been constantly targeting me and my family because we are raising our voice against police atrocities,” she said.
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She said she had recovered enough to fight for justice. “I cannot think about my health now. How can a senior police officer abuse me and my father? My father has suffered a lot. He was attacked by Maoists a few years ago. He is 75 and ailing, but the police officer made him cry. If the police don’t release them, my family will stage a protest in front of the police station.”