New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has sought the stand of the city police on a petition by a ‘purdahnashin’ (veiled) Muslim woman seeking an impartial probe and action against its personnel who allegedly took her to a police station forcibly without her veil and subjected her to degrading treatment.
The petitioner claimed that on the intervening night of November 5-6, at around 3 AM, some police officials barged into her house, held an illegal search, paraded her without her purdah/veil to the police station and detained her for 13 hours in flagrant violation of the law.
Justice Saurbah Banerjee issued notice to the city police commissioner on the woman’s petition which also sought a direction to sensitise personnel of force about the sacrosanct religious, social customs and practices observed by women who observe ‘purdah’ either as a religious belief or as a part of their personal choice.
Lawyer M Sufian Siddiqui, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the conduct of the police officials was a brazen infraction of the petitioner’s fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution as well as her human rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In an order passed on November 30, Justice Banerjee directed the police to preserve relevant CCTV footage of all cameras installed within and around police station premises and those installed by city authorities and private residents.