A 65 year old man was arrested and tortured by police personnel posted in the Dawki police station, an advocate has alleged in a criminal complaint with the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC).
As per reports, Sonil (also reported as Solin) Suting, a resident of Pyrdiwah village, was tortured on the premises of Dawki police station after he was arrested from Lad Darrang village. He was also reportedly bitten by two dogs while tied up and defenceless in the police station.
Police, however, have denied that he was tortured, although they did admit that a dog had bitten him on the station premises. They also said, according to reports in PTI, that he had been detained after producing a Bangladeshi identity card. PTI also referred to a video where Suting claims that the police who arrested him were in an inebriated state. West Jaintia Hills District SP C Syrti also denied this accusation.
In his complaint to the MHRC, Sawian said that Suting and some of his friends were on their way to Amtapoh village to get a water pump drilling machine repaired but had to stop at Lad Darrang during the night because the vehicle they were in developed a technical snag.
While some of his friends went out in search of a mechanic, Suting and another friend were approached by policemen who questioned them.
The police allegedly allowed the friend to leave but detained Suting ostensibly on suspicion that he was a Bangladeshi even though he had on him his Aadhaar and voter identity cards as citizenship proof, Sawian said.
At Dawki police station, Suting alleged that he was tied to a pole with a dog chain by the officer-in-charge in the presence of other police personnel. Two dogs there bit him multiple times and no one helped him despite repeated cries for help.
Eventually, the police dropped him back at 3 am close to Pyrdiwah and left him there alone where Suting also alleged they threatened him to keep quiet about the incident. Due to his injuries, he had to crawl back to his home.
Sawian described the ordeal as a “sheer and grave violation of human rights and against the principle of natural justice” and called on the MHRC to take up the case.
