SISTERS BEATEN UP FOR REVERTING TO ISLAM, AFRAID TO RETURN HOME

A south Kolkata girl, who has reverted from Hinduism to Islam, and her sister who is also keen to revert, were beaten up allegedly by the associates of the local councillor. The girls have also alleged police inaction, reports said on Jun 16 and 17. Vinita Shaw, 25, a resident of 57/2B Bondel Road, came to the fold of Islam in December last year. Her new name, vide an affidavit by a first class magistrate, is Taiba Khatoon. Her sister, 18-year-old Pooja Shaw, too, expressed her wish to follow suit last week.

The change of path apparently did not go down too well with their neighbours, who, on Jun 8, beat up the two sisters and their family, including her mother and brother, with bricks and rods. “We are a very poor family. My father is paralytic and bed-ridden. These people started a fight on the pretext that we dirty the place too much. But when they started beating us, they said unmentionable things as I have converted,” said Vinita. She also alleged that both sisters were abused and molested.

Vinita also claimed harassment at the hands of the police. “I went to the police station with a written complaint against Asim Bera, Tapas Bera, Abhishek Malakar, Krishna Ray, Akash Ray, Manoj Singh, Bikas Singh and Birju Paswan but investigating officer D D Roy Chowdhury tore it up and wrote it himself. He even refused to give me a copy of the complaint and when I insisted, he asked the other officer there to give it to me, referring to me with unmentionable names,” she said. Afraid of the threats that she and her family had been getting, Pooja Shaw, who was hospitalised after she was beaten up by her neighbours for wanting to embrace Islam, and her sister Vinita have decided not to return home.