Woman accuses Latur cops of atrocity: Women panel seeks report from Maharashtra police

In her complaint to the commission, Jadhav said that on September 11 she complained to the local police that her relatives were selling liquor illegally near her house in Latur. “I live in Mumbai but keep visiting my house in Latur. I first complained to the local police about the matter. Teenage boys would come to drink there,” Jadhav said, adding that her niece Ashwini Jadhav, 17, often had problems with drunk men near the liquor shop.

She said when the police did not take action, she approached the collector who ordered a raid. “After the raid on the shop, my husband’s brother who ran the liquor business publicly thrashed me on the road,” she said.

Her husband, Ramrao Jadhav, who retired earlier this year as a senior intelligence officer in the state intelligence department in Colaba, said on September 15 she again went to the Udgir police to complain against Yadav Marappa Jadhav, his younger brother who ran the liquor business after he thrashed her on the road.

In the complaint, Jadhav has alleged she reached the police station at 8:30 pm, where the police first registered an FIR, then made her wait for the police inspector to arrive following which the inspector abused her of meddling in other people’s business. “He pulled me by my hair and kicked me. There were two women constables too. He also used a belt to beat me and other constables joined in. Later, he slapped my niece,” Jadhav alleged.

She was detained in police custody for the night along with her niece. “Police kept threatening that I should not have complained against the liquor shop,” she said. The next day, Jadhav was taken to hospital for treatment of bruises. In her complaint, she has claimed she approached several senior police officers in the last two months but that none looked into the matter. Her niece Ashwini has stopped going to school after the incident fearing she will be beaten up again, she said.

“We received an account of how the woman and her niece went to several police officers to complain in the matter. If they have been beaten up without any reason by the police, then a departmental inquiry must happen. We have asked for the police’s account on the incident to understand both the sides,” said Vijaya Rahatkar, chairperson of the state women commission. The Udgir police have also registered a complaint against Jadhav claiming she obstructed them from discharging their duties. A report will be submitted this week by the police.