Woman In Police Custody Allegedly Made To Stay In Wet Clothes For Hours, Drank Toilet Water To Survive
Documents lodged in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia alleged that a woman in Ballarat police’s custody was being physically assaulted and drank water from a toilet. She was reportedly not provided with drinking water, so quenched her thirst drinking water from police station’s washroom.
The same documents also works against two Ballarat police officers, meanwhile, Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) will take a call on whether the officers should attend a public hearing over allegations of misbehavior against a woman. The incident happened in January this year.
She was allegedly made to stand semi-naked in front of male officers, exposing her private parts. She was kicked mercilessly, stomped on and stood upon while being handcuffed and lying face down. They officers also sprayed capsicum foam, which had to be washed off in the shower, but she wasn’t allowed to change to dry clothes after her shower. The woman remained in police custody in her wet clothes without a blanket for at least five hours.
The submission filed against the officers reveal she was held for 16 hours instead of the usual four, and drank water from a toilet bowl because the police failed to give her drinking water.
According to the court documents, the woman turned argumentative and violent at times. Though it was understood that the woman was drunk, but detailed allegations against are still not clear from media reports.
"The plaintiffs were the officers who arrested Person A and took her into police custody," Ted Woodward, the legal counsel for IBAC, said in the submission.
Lawyers for the officers, who refrained from revealing their identities to the press, argued a public hearing may prejudice the officers' right to a fair trial and tarnish their reputations.
Meanwhile, it is learned that both the officers have been suspended for their misconduct, but have not been charged of allegations so far.
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