HINDUSTAN TIMES 11TH SEPTEMBER 2000
Bobby Naqvi
(Barabanki, September 10)

IN A gruesome incident, policemen allegedly poured petrol on a Dalit farmer’s body and burnt his private parts after torturing him continuously for three days inside the Ram Sanehi Ghat police station, about 30 km from here.

Goli, 50, suspected in a dacoity case, is undergoing treatment at the district hospital for serious burns on shoulders, abdomen and lower part of his body.

Although the police have denied the incident, a probe has been ordered.

Narrating the incident to The Hindustan Times, the victim’s wife, Seema, said, “On August 27, around eight to ten policemen came to our house in Mahow village and took away Goli on charges of dacoity in a neighbouring village.”

“Goli was then tortured for four days in the lock-up. On the night of August 30, two cops jabbed a wooden stick covered with a piece of cloth soaked in petrol into his private parts.”

The torture did not end there. “Soon after, the policemen poured petrol over the lower part of his body and burnt his private parts,” Seema said in a choked voice.

Goli, who belongs to the Pasi community, then fainted. When he regained consciousness, Goli was forced to admit his involvement in the dacoity case.

Later in the night when his condition deteriorated, the police brought him to the Barabanki district hospital.

The burns allegedly inflicted by the cops may cause some permanent disability. The hospital authorities are unable to comment on the damage.

“He is undergoing treatment for the last one week and I won’t be able to say whether Goli’s private parts would be functional again,” Dr AK Srivastava, who is attending on the victim, said.

The police, on its part, has not only denied the incident, but has also accused the victim of blackmailing. Barabanki SP Chandrika Rai said, “Goli himself set fire to his dhoti in order to put pressure on the cops.”

Rai accused Goli of “changing his statement he had given to the police” and said he was trying to “blackmail the police”.