Vasai: Branded as thieves, six tribal women caned and locked up just for being poor

Sic women from the Malhar Koli community who work as daily wagers might have never imagined that a trip to a Vasai market to buy clothes and ration would expose them to alleged police highhandedness In an incident of alleged custodial assault which plays out a lot like the Tamil film Jai Bhim an assistant police inspector API picked up the women from the market took them to the Papdi police chowkie and caned them on the mere suspicion of them being pickpockets All of this happened on a day when they did not get work and decided to visit the market insteadVinod Wagh APIAll the victims are natives of Kavdas village in Dahanu taluka of Palghar district The seminomadic tribes recently left their village in search of work in Vasai where they reside in makeshift tents In order to get work as labourers at construction sites the tribals gather at Paar naka mdash a pickup point in Papdi village of Vasai city mdash from where contractors take them to the site A few of them get work daily while others have to wait till the next dayPapdi police chowkie where the incident took placeLike any other day about 100 tribals had gathered at the same pickup point on November 19 However the victims did not get work that day and so they decided to visit the Vasai market ldquoSince we did not get work we decided to go to the weekly Friday market to purchase some clothes We had come to Vasai from Dahanu just a day before thatrdquo said Baby Narayan Wavre 45 who was brutally assaulted on her left armldquoAround 1230 pm we went to the market and purchased some blouse pieces and teacups Few of us were carrying our tiffin boxes as we had left home early in the morning for work which we did not get that dayrdquo Wavre told midday She was accompanied by five other women mdash Taru Subhash Dokphode 25 Sonam Sabu Bhoir 21 Sita Santaram Bhoir 35 Vimal Manku Pujhara 43 and Deepika Dinesh Wavre 25Brutally canedldquoWe were at the market when suddenly two policemen walked up to us and asked us not to move Initially I thought that we were caught for not wearing facemasks and so I tried to cover my face with a piece of cloth In the meantime one of the cops got an autorickshaw and forcefully bundled us into it The driver was asked to take us to Papdi police chowkie We were confused about what was going onrdquo said WavreThe women had come to Vasai from Dahanu in search of workAnother victim Bhoir said ldquoI was excited to visit the market but a male officer forcefully pushed us into an auto and took us to the police chowkie After we got off the auto API Vinod Wagh dragged us into the chowkie and bolted the door from inside There was another officer in the room but he did not assault us Wagh took out a baton and said lsquoYou all are thieves Have you come here for pickpocketing Next time you should not be seen in and around the market arearsquo He verbally abused us toordquo She further said ldquoAll of us were asked to put forward our palms Except Wavre all of us were caned on our palmsrdquoldquoAs I did not comply Wagh hit me thrice on my left arm The wound has turned blue and I cannot even move my hand Itrsquos paining a lotrdquo Wavre said ldquoI hardly earn 300 to 400 a day and we do not have a fixed job I have not been able to go to work as my arm is painingrdquo added Wavre who has been running a family of six since her husband passed away last yearBaby Narayan Wavre was brutally assaulted on her left armldquoWe are poor but not thieves We sweat it out under the sun to earn our living The cops must respect women We were abused and assaulted by the policemen just because our clothes were tattered and dirtyrdquo said Pujhara Wavre further said ldquoWe showed them our Aadhaar cards to prove that we are not thieves but the officers were not ready to listen I am scared of policemen now Are they here to protect us or assault usrdquolsquoWe paid the price for being poorrsquoAnother victim Deepika said ldquoWe had our lunch boxes with us Which thief carries a lunch box to the crime scene The police assaulted us just because we are poor We kept pleading innocence with folded hands and teary eyes but he continued to assault us No female officers were present at the chowkie We were kept there for nearly 30 minutes The officer asked us not to visit the market again or else we would be assaulted again From where will we purchase ration and vegetables if we do not go to the market And should we not visit the market just because we are tribals and belong to a downtrodden category of peoplerdquo ldquoWe have paid the price for being poorrdquo added PujharaSpeaking to midday API Wagh said ldquoI have not assaulted anyone I took them to the police chowkie after receiving a complaint Incidents of pickpocketing have been on the rise in the market area I am being falsely framed in a sensitive matter The CCTV footage inside the police chowkie will reveal everythingrdquo Following the incident Wagh was transferred to the control room of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissionerate in Mira Road said Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP Sanjay Kumar PatilldquoSix women were brought to the Papdi police chowkie by API Wagh who allowed them to go after questioning for a brief period The women have submitted a complaint against Wagh at Vasai police station and we have initiated an enquiryrdquo said PatilThe shanties at Papdi village where they resideHe added ldquoThe women have undergone medical checkups at DM Petit Hospital and one of them had reddish marks on her arm We are probing into the details to ascertain if Wagh assaulted them We have recorded the statements of many people including local residents as the police chowkie is located on a busy road All of them said that no one was assaulted at the chowkierdquoSpeaking about the CCTV footage Patil said ldquoThere are no CCTV cameras inside the chowkie but there is one camera which records the movement of vehicles on the road outside the chowkie The diary entry of each woman has been maderdquoA police officer attached to the Vasai police station said ldquoAfter taking these women to the police chowkie Wagh should have informed the police station and requested for a team of women officers to quiz themrdquolsquoWagh must be punishedrsquoSpeaking about the incident tribal leader Vivek Pandit said ldquoThe commissioner of police MBVV must punish Wagh as he assaulted the tribal women without verifying the facts This reflects the barbaric nature of police officers and their highhandedness against tribalsrdquoSenior lawyer at Vasai court Advocate Digambar Desai said ldquoAssault by the police in custody is a barbaric act In this case no FIR was registered against the women still they were assaulted in custody The Supreme Court time and again has come down heavily on police atrocities and has given guidelines to act appropriately Despite that we hear of such brutal acts that too in such progressive times Where were the women officers The incident is shamefulrdquoHead of Vivek Panditled Shramjeevi Sangathana of Chulna Village Santosh Tumbada said ldquoAfter we apprised the senior police officers of the barbaric act my team members were approached by some people who offered to bribe us to dilute the matter But we remained firm on our standrdquoRs 400Maximum amount Wavre earns in a day