Arrested MP Navneet Rana has alleged that the 'casteist' slur was used against her inside the jail by the police. In a letter addressed to Speaker Om Birla, the Amravati MP on Monday said that she was denied access to drinking water and not allowed to use the washroom on account of her belonging to the Scheduled Caste.
"I emphatically state that basic human rights such as drinking water was denied to me on the ground that I belong to Scheduled Caste (Neechi Zaat)," she wrote in the letter.
"To my shock and disbelief, the police staff present told me that I belong to Scheduled Caste & hence they will not give me water in the same glass. Thus, I was directly abused on the basis of my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided," she added.
"Further, when I wanted to use the bathroom at the night, police staff paid no heed to my demands. I was again abused in the most filthy language...I was told that we don’t let people from Neechi Zaat Scheduled Castes use our bathrooms," the MP alleged.
Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana were arrested on Saturday after they gave a call for the chanting of Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence in Mumbai. They have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Contending that her arrest was illegal, Naveen said that she had no intention to incite any religious tension by reciting Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav's home.
"It's my honest & bona fide belief that Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray completely strayed from its avowed Hindutva principles for obvious reasons since it wanted to betray public mandate and form post-poll alliance with INC-NCP," she said.
"In fact, I had invited the Chief Minister to join me in chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. I reiterate that my actions were not against the Chief Minister," Navneet said. "However, looking to the fact that my actions may prove detrimental to law & order situation in Mumbai, I had publicly withdrawn from the said exercise & declared that I shall not be going to CM residence. I was confined with my husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, in my house."
Meanwhile, police said that Navneet Rana has been shifted to the Byculla women's jail while her MLA husband Ravi Rana has been taken to Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai. Ravi Rana, the MLA from Badnera in Amravati, was first taken to the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, but due to lack of adequate space there, he was taken to the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai after completion of the legal formalities.
A sedition charge has also been slapped against Navneet and Ravi by the police.
READ MORE: All about Navneet Rana: Actress-turned-MP arrested in Hanuman Chalisa row
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