Wife kidnap probe is sought
By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 9th November 2006
EMBASSY officials are demanding a government inquiry into the police handling of the kidnapping, beating and robbing of an Indian wife, by four bogus policemen. They want to know why police held the husband in custody for 29 hours after he went to them for help and why the wife was detained for around 17 hours, after her captors released her.
Officials and community leaders also want to know why police who saw the woman being dropped off from a white minivan, 11 hours after she was snatched, did not stop and detain those inside.
Wife kidnap probe is sought
By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 9th November 2006
EMBASSY officials are demanding a government inquiry into the police handling of the kidnapping, beating and robbing of an Indian wife, by four bogus policemen. They want to know why police held the husband in custody for 29 hours after he went to them for help and why the wife was detained for around 17 hours, after her captors released her.
Officials and community leaders also want to know why police who saw the woman being dropped off from a white minivan, 11 hours after she was snatched, did not stop and detain those inside.
The Indian Embassy wrote yesterday to the Interior and Foreign Ministries, urging an investigation into the police handling of the case.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has also pledged that his government will investigate the incident.
Kausalya Mohanan, aged 50, was still too traumatised to talk about her ordeal yesterday while her husband, two sons and other relatives and friends refused to comment.
Police were reportedly still hunting for the men who snatched Mrs Mohanan from her home in Sitra, at around 12.30 am on Monday.
They dropped her near her home around 11 hours later, after apparently taking her to different houses, beating her and robbing her of jewellery worth BD1,000 and BD50 in cash. Her husband M K Mohanan was held by the CID from 11.30am on Monday until around 4.30pm on Tuesday, when he was released.
Police patrolling the Sitra area said Mrs Mohanan was dropped off near the couple’s home by a white minivan, at around 11.15am on Monday.
But it drove off as the police stopped to pick up and question Mrs Mohanan, who was kept in custody overnight and released at around 4.30pm on Tuesday.
“I have written to both the Interior and Foreign Ministry requesting them to probe into why Mr Mohanan was held in custody for 29 hours by the CID when he went to complain about his wife being kidnapped,” Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty told the GDN.
“We also need to find out why the CID chose to take Mrs Mohanan into custody when she was dropped off at her building, instead of chasing the vehicle that took her there.”
Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) action committee head Marietta Dias described the kidnapping, assault and robbery as “absolutely revolting”.
“As a woman, Mrs Mohanan must be completely traumatised.
“Imagine taking a woman, that too of her age, away from her house in front of her own husband, while he had to stand helpless as he thought them to be from the police.
“I am ashamed of this country now and to think that this has been my home for decades.
“How could someone assault this poor woman, just look at her pathetic face. She’s just a gentle housewife, mother and grandmother.” Mrs Mohanan travelled to Bahrain a month ago on a housemaid visa, to be with her husband.
The kidnappers, one of whom was wearing what looked like a police uniform, claimed they were searching for a runaway housemaid, when they knocked on the door of the couple’s flat, at around 12.30am on Monday. They asked for Mrs Mohanan’s CPR card, then said they were arresting her for being in Bahrain illegally.
Mr Mohanan, who currently works as a driver for a company in Sitra, has been in Bahrain for more than 23 years.
© Gulf Daily News
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/
Story.asp?Article=161227&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29234