HYDERABAD: A 35-year-old man from Avancha village alleged that Thimmajipet SI P Srinivasa Rao beat him with a rubber belt and urinated on him inside the police station on Tuesday. Nagarkurnool DSP B Srinivas on Wednesday admitted that the SI had beaten P Mahender, but said the allegation that he urinated on him was not believable.
Mahender told TNIE that a constable called him to the station over comments allegedly made about a girl. He reached around 9.30 am. “When I went there, the SI was not there. A few minutes later, he came to the police station. Later, the girl’s father and several others came to the police station,” he said.
Mahender said an altercation followed between him and the girl’s family in the SI’s presence. “At that time, the SI threatened me that he had been part of two encounters and I would be the third one. He also scolded me and used foul language,” he alleged. The girl’s family later lodged a complaint.
Mahender said he was taken to the first floor of the station at 2.15 pm, where there was a kitchen, bedroom, toilet and other rooms, and forced to sit against a wall with his legs stretched out. “A constable named Javed sat on my knees and the SI’s driver, whose name I do not know, held my hands tightly. The SI then took a rubber belt and hit me on my palms. After hitting me, the SI asked me to run on that floor. Then they again forced me to sit in the same position and beat me in the same way,” he alleged.
Torture by S-I recorded on CCTV cameras, says victim
“I was crying and shouting in pain. When I asked them for water, they urinated on me. Then they poured water on me,” Mahender said. He claimed the beating lasted around 20 minutes and stopped when the SI received a phone call and left.
Mahender said people known to him later arrived at the station and found him crying. When they questioned the police, two constables, including Javed, allegedly kicked him. “The whole incident was recorded on CCTV at the police station. This happened at around 4.45 pm,” he said.
Mahender and others later approached DSP Srinivas and submitted a complaint on Tuesday.“We have ordered the Nagarkurnool CI to conduct an inquiry into the incident,” Srinivas said at the presser on Wednesday.
Responding to the DSP’s statement, Mahender said his shirt and banian were drenched. “How could it have happened without pouring water after urinating on me?” he asked. “There is law for me and you. The SI has to do his duty by following the law. I gave the complaint to the DSP over the SI’s actions. I hope justice will prevail. If the police do not take any action, I will approach the Human Rights Commission or any other forum,” he said.