Student protester says she was stripped in jail

A journalism student arrested on her way to oppose a hydrocarbon project at Neduvasal in Tamil Nadu has alleged that she was harassed and stripped thrice in jail.

Valarmathi, who studies in Coimbatore and was arrested with six more students on April 15, levelled the allegations against Tiruchirapalli central jail officials. “I demand a judicial probe into our arrest and the manner in which we were treated in jail,” she said on Saturday after coming out of jail on bail.

“I told jail officials we were students and innocent. I asked why were we being treated like this?” she added, flanked by relatives and activists. Valarmathi alleged she was stripped in the name of search. “Each time we protested, they stepped up pressure.”

However, Jaya Bharati, deputy inspector general (prison), Tiruchirapalli, said Valarmathi’s allegations were “pure lies”. She said, “We followed the jail manual. Everything was done as per rules and regulations.”

Four other students, including a woman, also came out of the jail on Saturday. The others will be let out once their bail bonds are furnished, said police. The students, all from Coimbatore, had boarded a train for Neduvasal, more than 400km from Chennai.

They were allegedly distributing leaflets and singing songs on the train when police detained them near Karur.