"What I expressed on the internet was my personal view. But I realized many people were hurt by it. The written apology I gave was for hurting people and not for posting my opinion," Shaheen told TOI. "I don't have an inclination towards any political party. I just want peace and harmony."
Both Rinu and Shaheen deactivated their Facebook accounts . But late on Monday, Shaheen discovered a fake account in her name which had 120 friends in an hour. "I decided not to be on Facebook after my account got hacked," Shaheen said. "If we return to the site, it will only fan the controversy ," said Rinu. "I had an interview later this month for a course in sound engineering in Chennai. But with restrictions on moving out of the city, I don't know how I will appear for it," Rinu added.
Incidentally, two of Rinu's friends had commented on the post which she shared from Shaheen's page. "After Shaheen got into trouble over her comment on Sunday evening, a common friend called me up and advised I should immediately delete the post from my page. I thought he was joking, but deleted it anyway," Rinu said. Late on Sunday, when the two were summoned to the Palghar police station for tendering a written apology, they were never briefed about the possibility of an arrest.
"I had never seen the inside of a police station before. An unknown woman even slapped me twice," said Rinu. "We haven't been given a copy of the apology we gave in writing," said Shaheen.
"We haven't yet decided whether we will pursue any legal action against the Sena for lodging a complaint against Shaheen over an innocuous post," said her uncle, Dr Abdul. Shaheen's mother Nazma said she wasn't very active on Facebook and was horrified at the arrest. "I was keeping rozas for Muharram when the arrests happened. It was a big shock," she said. "We only want justice," Rinu concluded.
Nine questions for the police
Law enforcers showed little regard for law when charging two young women in Palghar with great alacrity. The conduct of men in khaki has thrown up a number of serious questions:
1. Despite the law being very clear that women can't be called to a police station between sunset and sunrise, except in exceptional circumstances , the police said they called Shaheen Dhada (21) and Rinu Shrinivasan (20), to the Palghar police station at 10pm on Sunday — and that too over an innocuous internet post. The police then said they released the girls at midnight, though Dhada's family says the release was at 2.45am Monday. Why were the girls summoned and kept at the police station at night?
2. In January 2012, the Bombay high court came down heavily on the police, saying filing FIRs was not a favour to the public. The court observation came after the police's repeated reluctance to file FIRs and instead only take down non-cognizable complaints, which helps reduce their workload and makes crime statistics look better. Yet, in the case of Dhada and Shrinivasan, the cops didn't delay in rushing to file an FIR. Why?
3. While the police showed no delay in summoning the two girls to the police station on Sunday night and arresting them on Monday morning, they took their own sweet time to arrest the hoodlums who ransacked the Dhada hospital at 9.30pm on Sunday night. The arrests were made only on Tuesday and only after a public outcry. Furthermore, only 10 of the hooligans have been arrested? Why the delay in nabbing the rioters and why are the other 30 to 40 still absconding?
4. The police applied Section 66A of the IT Act, however the Union minister of state Milind Deora himself said they acted in haste. Are the local police well-versed with the IT Act and did they take the opinion of the cyber crime cell or any other expert before applying a section of the act?
5. The cops admitted that they wrongly applied Section 295(A), which involves hurting religious sentiments, against Shaheen Dhadha. They said they did so on the insistence of the hoodlums and without even reading the Facebook post themselves . After actually reading the post, they realised no statement to hurt religious sentiments had been made and they withdrew the section. Should the police be applying such stringent and sensitive sections without verifying the evidence? Section 295(A) is non-bailable and carries a three-year jail term as well as a fine
6. Will there be an inquiry into whether the complainant Bhushan Sankhe filed a frivolous complaint against the girls?
7. If it is concluded that the cops wrongly applied sections against the girls, will they face the music?
8. Will anybody pay for the damages to Dr Dhada's hospital?
9. Will the girls, who had to pay Rs 15,000 as surety each, be compensated for their mental duress?
Compensation for mental trauma
One can file a civil suit to claim damages from the state and the complainant for physical or mental suffering, loss of reputation or even malicious intention on behalf of the complainant, for wrongful arrest. However, this recourse is available only if the person accused is acquitted or discharged in the criminal case. An added ground could be wrongful detention of a woman in the police station and not complying with Supreme Court norms on arresting a woman at night. A petition can also be filed in the high court. The HC this year set a precedent, asking the state government to pay Rs 2.75 lakh compensation to SoBo resident Veena Sippy who was illegally detained and had to spend a night in the lock up.
Who pays for the vandalism?
State home minister R R Patil said on Tuesday that according to the law, the cost of the damages to the hospital (now estimated at around Rs 20 lakh), will be recovered from those guilty of the vandalism. The Maharashtra government recently amended the Bombay Police Act to make protesters indulging in violence pay for the damage that they cause to public and private property. The special provision in the law empowered the concerned district magistrate to fix the liability on vandals. The highest fine so far recovered has been Rs 7.8 lakh from a Vile Parle-based Shiv Sena activist, who led an attack on a five-star hotel on January 21, 2009. Also, MNS workers were ordered to shell out Rs 57,000 for vandalizing the office of the registrar of the University of Mumbai on January 22 the same year. More recently, a bill for damages during the August 11 violence this year near Azad Maidan has been sent to the organization which organized the rally, but the compensation is yet to be received.
What legal option do the girls have?
The immediate recourse available to the girls is to file a petition in the high court seeking that the FIR against them be quashed. The police can also discharge them from the case saying no offence is made out. However, if the police do not do so, the girl herself can move an application before the trial court seeking discharge. The court can also discharge the accused from the case, if it feels no prima facie case is made out.
What action can erring cops face?
Under section 358 CrPc, the trial court can impose a fine of up to Rs 1,000 on the policeman who made the arrests, if it finds that the grounds of arrest were wrong. The amount will be paid to the victims. A petition can also be filed in the high court to seek redressal against the illegal detention. The courts have in the past ordered departmental action against police officers. Moreover, the police can on their own initiate a departmental enquiry against the erring policemen. If found guilty, the cops can be suspended or transferred to a 'non-significant posting'.
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