Teacher recounts nightmarish experience

A 26-year-old victim, who hails from Dubai and presently lives in Kalyaninagar, is a teacher. She complained to superintendent of police (Pune rural) Manoj Lohiya about her experience.

She said, “Since it was my birthday, I had thrown a party for my three siblings who had come from abroad  to wish me on my birthday. We reached Maya Lounge at 10.45 pm on September 1 and finished our dinner.

“We were listening to music when the policemen came in and switched off the lights. We were scattered and the policemen began yelling that women should go downstairs. They gathered the men together. The policemen were pushing us.

“I was wearing high heels and my footwear broke in the melee. I was barefoot. The floor was wet and pieces of glass were scattered all over, which  pricked my feet. I tried going upstairs to get my sandals. Two policemen, one in uniform and the other in plain clothes, stopped me.

“I told them I was going upstairs just to get my sandals. But they asked me to sit on the floor. I told them that I was unable to sit down, but they pulled my hair, held me by my neck and forced me to sit down. I have a sinus problem and it was cold.

“A policewoman slapped me. I burst into tears. Then my sister asked for a glass of water, but the policemen refused to give us any. Then my brother picked up a bottle, fetched the water from the toilet and I drank it.”

She said, “Later, the same policeman who had manhandled me approached me. I complained to him about being slapped. He asked me to remain quiet and threatened to implicate me in a case. Without carrying out any breath-analysis, they wrote that I was drunk. A cop was filming women wearing short dresses with his mobile.”

She fumed, “The incident was a nightmare. I will not let go the policemen who manhandled and slapped me. My students too were present in Maya and they have witnessed the incident. That leaves me more embarrassed.

“I will fight this battle till the three policemen who ill=treated me are suspended and penalised,” she said. Lohiya asked her to give a written complaint and said, “We will hold a high-level inquiry against the policemen who have done this.”