Jharkhand guv asks DGP why no action against suspended BJP leader over 'torturing' tribal help

Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Tuesday asked DGP Neeraj Sinha as to why no action has been taken against suspended BJP leader Seema Patra after allegations of her torturing her 29-year-old tribal help surfaced.

Ranchi:Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Tuesday asked DGP Neeraj Sinha as to why no action has been taken against suspended BJP leader Seema Patra after allegations of she torturing her 29-year-old tribal help surfaced. The saffron party has suspended Patra, the wife of a retired IAS officer, after a video of the woman, Sunita, narrating her ordeal, went viral on social media with demands for Patra's arrest.

Members of various tribal outfits visited the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) where the woman is undergoing treatment and met her. Acting on a tip-off from a government employee, the Ranchi Police rescued the woman from Patra's residence last week and got her statement recorded on Tuesday before the magistrate, sources said.

Patra had allegedly kept the woman captive in her residence in Ranchi's posh Ashok Nagar area for the last several years. "The accused will be arrested soon. A case under sections of the SC/ST Act and the Indian Penal Code have been registered against Patra," a police officer said. "The victim is in a state of trauma. She had claimed that she was made to lick her urine and her teeth were broken," he said.

Patra, in her mid-sixties, lives with her husband. Police said the matter is being investigated. Meanwhile, a statement from Raj Bhavan said, "Governor Shri Ramesh Bais has taken cognisance of the news of harassment of a domestic help Sunita in a very inhuman manner by Seema Patra, a resident of Road No. 1 at Ashok Nagar, Ranchi and wife of a retired IAS officer."

"Expressing his displeasure, the Governor has asked the Director General of Police of the state as to why no action has been taken by the police against the guilty persons so far. The Governor has also expressed serious concern over the laxity of the police," it added. President of Adivasi Janparishad, Prem Shahi Munda, said such atrocities against tribal women will not be tolerated.

Another tribal organisation, Kendriya Sarna Samiti, said its members will go to the SC/ST Police Station here on Wednesday. Independent MLA Saryu Rai, a former BJP minister, tweeted, "Before legal action is initiated, BJP Jharkhand should taken action against Madam Seema Patra, who has oppressed the domestic help ... else it should take the stance clear before the public." (PTI)