Gujarat PUCL condemns Kheda flogging, demands SIT overseen by retd HC judge

The Gujarat chapter of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties has strongly condemned the public flogging of four Muslims for allegedly pelting stones at a garba event in Kheda district and demanded constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of a retired high court judge picked by the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the PUCL said the incident of stone-throwing and disruption of the garba event at Undhela village in Kheda district’s Matar taluka (tehsil) should be investigated as an offence but it didn’t give the police the authority to take the law unto its own hands and flog suspects like this.  

Gujarat PUCL’s coordination committee asserted, “The manner in which the police personnel took the law in their hands and flogged the alleged offenders in public is reminiscent of medieval barbarity; such brutality by law enforcement personnel is extremely serious, and indicates an impunity that has been cultivated in the police force.”

The statement said while the PUCL welcomed the inquiry ordered by an IG-rank police official, it urged the Director-General of Gujarat Police Ashish Bhatia and the State Government to ensure that an “impartial departmental inquiry be conducted and exemplary disciplinary action taken against the police personnel who perpetrated this dastardly crime.”

The Gujarat PUCL coordination committee comprises Prof Hemant Shah, Meenakshi Joshi, Michael Martin, Prof Raghavan Rangarajan and Prasad Chacko.

They also demanded that “the victims of this atrocity should be provided protection by police personnel from the SRP or other forces that are not from the local police stations.”