Three constables have been booked for allegedly raping a Bangladeshi woman at the Hazaribag detention centre, while the appearance of the state home secretary before the Jharkhand High Court on Monday revealed that the state government’s requests to the Ministry of External Affairs for her deportation have received no response.
The state government informed the court that an FIR had been registered against the three policemen and all of them had been suspended. A sealed report submitted by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) also confirmed the allegation that the woman was raped by three police personnel while she was lodged at the detention centre.
The government filed an affidavit before the court in the matter. The court directed the state to ensure that the woman is provided all necessary facilities and security during her stay at the detention centre.
It also questioned the sections invoked in the FIR, following which the advocate general assured the bench that necessary amendments would be made. The court directed the petitioner to file a rejoinder to the state’s response and posted the matter for October 15.
During the hearing, the state said letters had been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs since 2023 seeking the woman’s deportation to Bangladesh, but no response had been received.
The home secretary also told the court that the state had contacted the Bangladesh government, without receiving a response. The court asked the counsel appearing for the Centre to file a reply on the issue.
Court questions prolonged detention
The court questioned why the woman continued to be detained after completing the sentences imposed on her. It asked why she was not deported to Bangladesh after completing the three-year sentence awarded to her in 2021 under the Foreigners Act and why she was subsequently kept at a detention centre.
The latest development follows the court’s intervention on October 1 after a social worker approached it seeking the woman’s release and raising allegations of prolonged detention and custodial rape.
The court had then ordered an inquiry into the allegation and summoned the home secretary to appear before it.
Two cases registered in 2018
The state told the court that two cases were registered against the woman in 2018 in Jamtara—one relating to the abduction of a child and another under the Foreigners Act.
She was sentenced to two years in the first case and three years in the Foreigners Act case in 2021. After completing her sentences, she was sent to the Hazaribag detention centre.
She escaped with another woman detainee in late 2025 but was apprehended within days and booked in another Foreigners Act case. She was acquitted in that case in 2026 but continued to remain in detention.
At the earlier hearing, the court had directed JHALSA to have the Hazaribag DLSA record the woman’s statement. The Hazaribag SP had assured the court of a thorough inquiry and adequate security.
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