‘I was forcibly taken away in front of my children: BJP’s Shakunthala accuses police of ill-treatment in Bengaluru

A day after a BJP woman from Karnataka was arrested and released on bail by Bengaluru police for an alleged derogatory tweet against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, she accused the police of taking her into custody without any warrant.

Shakunthala Nataraj was arrested by the police and questioned for several hours before being allowed to leave the station on bail. After her release, Shakunthala said on Saturday that she was forcibly taken away by the police.

“I have used a screenshot from a tweet posted by the Congress in which they termed the Udupi University video incident as child's play. I asked Siddaramaiah if he would call it the same if his wife or others were videotaped in the bathroom. Because of this tweet, 7-8 policemen came and forcibly took me away,” said Shakuntala.

She claims the police took her away in front of her young children.

“They came to my house around 7 to 7:30. Four women and three policemen came in civilian clothes. Only one woman, usually an inspector, wore a uniform. They broke into my house when my children were getting ready for school. I asked them to give me notice and appear for questioning, but they did not listen to me. They did not even give me an arrest warrant before arresting me,” Shakunthala said. The BJP worker also alleged that she was treated like a criminal.

“I just woke up; they didn't let me wash my face. When I asked them to let me change, they made me change in front of them and didn't let me close the door. They took away my cell phone. They made me sit in the back seat of the car with two female police officers sitting on either side of me. They treated me like a criminal. They also pressured me not to write anything like that,” added Shakuntala.

Based on a complaint by a Congress worker, the High Grounds police filed an FIR in the case.