A Muslim family of five has petitioned the Gujarat High Court for contempt against multiple police officers for allegedly beating and tying them up in full front of the public while people cheered, recorded, and shared the incident on social media.

The police intervention apparently followed a communal incident that took place on October 3 in the village of Undhela in the Kheda district’s Matar Taluka. During the Navratri celebrations, some trespassers are said to have thrown stones at the gathering. The incident resulted in the arrest of at least 40 people.

Senior citizen Maksudabanu, one of the petitioners, claimed that the police beat her up and illegally detained her and her family members at the police station after breaking into her home late at night while a female policeman was not present. The petitioner and 5 other people are said to have been mercilessly beaten with lathis in front of a crowd after being taken back to the village and tied to a pole in the centre of the chowk.

“Please observe the manner in which they were first forcibly detained, transported to the location, tied to a pole, and then brutally beaten. Each victim was removed (from the police van), beaten, and then put back inside; the process continued with the next person, the next, and so on. The police officers created their own videos and posted them to social media “The petitioners’ senior attorney IH Syed submitted on their behalf.

He claimed that the DK Basu case completely disregarded the Supreme Court’s instructions.

CASE: Jahirmiya Rehamumiya Malek & Ors. v. State of Gujarat & Ors.