'Cops tortured me for being rapist's neighbour'

Auto driver alleges police bent the law to get information out of him about the accused in Delhi University rape case

There's a new commissioner in town. And cops it seems are falling over each other to get into his good books. Even if that involves using extralegal means. Take for instance the DU student gang rape case, which occurred on the 3rd of November.


Arm twisted:u00a0Mohammad Wasim with his wife and child in front of the
Pandav Nagar police station in east Delhi. Pic/mid day

Delhi police managed to arrest one of the accused, an auto driver, from Mandawali in east Delhi. Now his neighbour is alleging that the cops tortured him using unfair means to extract information about the other accused.

Desperate measures
"The accused is my neighbour and his wife urged me for help to go with her to court. When we reached there, the police personnel present asked who I was. Then on the same day some cops came to my house and took me to the police station. There they beat me up and said that I have to find out about the rest of the accused or they would book me in some case," said Mohd. Wasim, the victim.

But Wasim's nightmare had just begun. On the evening of October 14, the cops allegedly took him to his colony and asked a local goon to beat up Wasim to find out the whereabouts of the other culprits.

"On that night some cops in plain clothes assigned a goon in my colony named Raja to torture me and find out about the rest of the accused. He and his accomplices took me to the roof of a building and then offered me drinks and then suddenly they started thrashing me with hockey sticks and belts. Soon some cops in plain clothes joined them and all of them started beating me and they handcuffed my hands. They took my thumb impression on a blank paper and then warned me of dire consequences if I didn't bring to them the rest of the accused. I said that I didn't know them but they didn't stop. Finally they gave up only when I lost my consciousness. My wife called the PCR and I was taken to the Lal Bahadur Shashtri Hospital at 2 in the morning," added the 23-year-old auto driver.

No relief
Wasim suffered many injuries and left the hospital with a fractured arm.
"The goons and cops have threatened me not to complain about the incident. The goons told me to not to return to my home or they would kidnap my child or even rape my wife. I am out on the streets with my family since the time I was discharged from the hospital," he added.

Wasim alleged that that even after making the PCR call and obtaining a Medico-Legal Certificate, the police didn't take any action against the culprits and no case was registered, defying protocol.

"The cops didn't take my complaint seriously. They even told me to compromise. I am an auto driver and I can't go on my job with a broken arm. I am scared of returning to my house as I don't know what the goons and cops would do," Wasim added. MiD DAY has a copy of the Medico-Legal Certificate (MLC) of the victim.