Girl held for 'Maoist link' alleges she was stripped naked and beaten up by police in jail

TIRUCHY: Released after 35 days of imprisonment for her alleged Maoist links, M Valarmathi,  a girl student of Periyar University in Salem, on Saturday alleged that she was stripped naked six times in the special prison for women and beaten up by police when resisted it.

She also claimed that prison authorities even denied her sanitary napkins when she was menstruating.

Valarmathi is one among the seven students from different colleges in Coimbatore and Salem arrested while proceeding to take part in the Neduvasal stir against the proposed hydrocarbon projects in the State.

The seven students were travelling in the Palakkad fast passenger to  reach Tiruchy to take part in the farmers’ protest on April 15 at Neduvasal when they were detained and later arrested by police on the charge that the students had been vocal about the farmers’ agitations and the proposed hydrocarbon projects and were interacting with co-passengers about the subject.

Valarmathi, along with D Swathi, was lodged at the Special Prison for Women in Tiruchy.

Valarmathi embarked on a hunger strike against her isolation from other prisoners when she was produced before the Kulithalai judicial magistrate who granted her bail on Friday.

As soon as she was enlarged on bail on Saturday, Valarmathi raised slogans against the alleged police atrocities in the prison.

“I was stripped naked over six times and beaten up by the police when I resisted it”, Valarmathi told media persons.  “I was denied even napkins when I was menstruating”, she said.

Ms Komala, Superintendent of  Special Prison for Women, Tiruchy, however, denied the charges and said that only norms were followed.

On disrobing Valarmathi, Komala said that Valarmathi was frisked whenever she went out of the prison to court and came back. On the charges of being denied sanitary napkins, Komala said that they could not give napkins when they ran out of stock and there was no other reason.

D Swathi, the other girl student, is slated to be released on Tuesday.

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