Injured law student held for assault

MUMBAI: Over a week after a mob tore her clothes and assaulted her at Dindoshi, law student Kalpana Shukla was arrested on the same charges. Shukla, the daughter of an ex-armyman, was admitted to Bhagwati Hospital with serious injuries after the attack on May 14. The mob was led by a local resident, Noorjehan Ghani, who suspected Shukla of tipping off the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the police.The ANC had raided Ghani's house and questioned her son.
After the incident, the police arrested Ghani, her daughter Reshma Sheikh andneighbour Asha Singh. However, a cross-complaint of assault was also registered against Shukla. After the hospital discharged Shukla, she was arrested on May 21 when she went to the Dindoshi police station to collect her belongings. A local court released her on bail the same day. The police have said in their remand application that the two groups of women fought over the community water tap.
"While I was hospitalised, some men had tried to barge into the female ward to threaten me. But the nurses managed to send them away,'' Shukla, who runs her own textile designing firm, told TOI. "The police visited me a couple of times to enquire about my health. But my statement was never recorded.''
On May 19, Shukla was discharged from the hospital but doctors advised her to rest at home as she hadn't recovered completely. "The day I was attacked, my shirt and jeans were ripped apart by the mob. These clothes were with the police, along with my diamond earrings and a ring. On May 21, I was feeling slightly better so I decided to collect my belongings from the police,'' Shukla said.
However, when she went to the Dindoshi police station, officers told her that she would be arrested for beating up Ghani and her two associates. "I was shocked to hear this and demanded to know why I wasn't told earlier about a complaint being lodged against me. I also tried in vain to explain that the real reason behind the attack was the suspected narcotics tip-off,'' Shukla said.
She then telephoned her family members who rushed to the Borivli court where she was produced the same day and released on bail. "We have witnesses who saw both groups of women beating up each other on May 14. Ghani and her two aides also had bruises. They were immediately treated at Bhagwati Hospital and discharged. A probe is still on,'' said sub-inspector M H Chaudhary.