After court order, case against Thane hospital official, cop & 6 others for beating up woman, destroying crime evidence

PTI, May 5, 2022, 10:31 AM IST

Police have registered a case against eight people, including a hospital’s medical officer and a policeman, for allegedly beating up a 36-year-old woman here in Maharashtra and then destroying the crime evidence, an official said on Thursday.

The incident took place in November 2020 and the case was registered on May 2 this year following directives issued by a local court last month.

Thane’s First Class Judicial Magistrate B H Parmar in her order on April 25 noted that the woman’s allegations are supported by CCTV footage and other documents, and directed the Kalwa police to register an offense against eight persons and conducted a probe into the case. On November 4, 2020, the woman, Shabnam Raine, had gone to the civic-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in the Kalwa area here to get a disability certificate for her son.

A doctor there asked her for the ration card, electricity bill, sale deed of the house, and other such documents. The woman told the doctor that it was difficult for her to get such documents as she was living in a rented house.

The doctor then allegedly used foul language and abused her in a loud voice, the court noted in the order.

The woman tried to make a video recording of the incident on her mobile phone, but the security guards (who are also among the accused) present there snatched the phone. They also allegedly pushed and thrashed the woman and also touched her inappropriately, the FIR said. The woman tried to run away from there, but the accused caught hold of her and brought her to the hospital’s security cabin, and allegedly thrashed her.

An official at the Kalwa police station later deleted the videos from the woman’s phone, according to the FIR.

The woman later moved to a local court to lodge her complaint. The Kalwa police on Monday registered a case against the eight persons under relevant provisions, an official said, adding that no arrest has been made so far.