Mumbai: the long arm of the law has been given wide reach to enforce the lockdown, which, for the most part, they have been using judiciously. However, there have been some instances of overreach, too.
In the first such incident, the police beat a staff nurse mercilessly, resulting in seven stitches on her head. In the second incident, the police reportedly beat up a soldier who was on leave in his village in Satara district.
Both victims have demanded strong action against the errant police officials. Priyanka Saheb Rao Rathod, staff nurse, was on duty and conducting a survey of ‘corona cases’ in Hingoli city on Wednesday. She was the supervisor for this survey and wearing the customary apron.
While returning home, she called her father Saheb Rao Rathod, who is also a police constable, to pick her up. While they both were returning home, Assistant Police Inspector Prabha Pundge, who was patrolling the area, stopped them and for no rhyme or reason started beating Priyanka on legs.
The father tried to intervene by telling the officer that Priyanka is a staff nurse and he happens to be a police constable, but Pundge was unmoved.
Even Priyanka pleaded that she is on duty. But the officer responded by beating both. The beating was so severe that Priyanka’s head started bleeding and she collapsed.
She was later hospitalised by the same police team. However, they misrepresented facts by telling the hospital that Priyanka had met with an accident. Incidentally, Pundage is an officer in the Women Vigilance Committee, the primary task of which is to help women in distress.
SOLDIER’S ORDEAL Datta Shendge, a soldier in the Indian Army for the last 18 years, is posted at Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir. He is on a 30-day leave (since March 14) and is visiting his native village in Palaswade.
He posted a video of his ordeal on social media. On the morning of March 24, he was cleaning the courtyard of his home and a local doctor, who was passing by, stopped to make a friendly inquiry about his arrival.
