Date:06/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/06/stories/2006110613200300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Police flex muscle in pub, take women to station

Susan Muthalaly

Smoke, atmosphere not good for you, officer tells them The terrified women were shuttled to the Thousand Lights police station where they had to wait for an hour.

Chennai : For Saturday night revellers at Speed, the popular pub at the Grand Orient, things started to go downhill at 11 p.m. when the police entered the pub and started asking for identity cards.

Aarti (name changed) and her friend were in the ladies' room when a female officer entered and asked for IDs. Both of them produced documents with proof that they were not underage.

Then the policewoman started questioning them about what they had drunk. Neither of them had consumed any alcohol but the officer persisted, said Aarti. "There were some girls with us who started freaking out because they were only 15 and 16 and quite drunk. But the cops let them out. They rounded up 17 women from the pub and made us wait in the bathroom. I don't understand why because most of us had IDs," she said.

About 20 minutes later, the terrified women were shuttled to the Thousand Lights police station where they had to wait for an hour.

They were told this was because the police had received a phone call saying a "criminal" was at Speed. "They kept asking some of the women questions such as whether they had boyfriends, how often they went out and if they thought it was right to be out of their homes after 9 p.m.," said Aarti. By then, parents or guardians had arrived. "But they still wouldn't let us go. We were told that the senior officer there wanted to talk to us," said Aarti.

The senior officer allegedly told them the reason they were in his office was because the smoke and atmosphere at Speed was bad for their health and could kill them. "He told us if we were ever caught at that place again, he would put us under questioning. He said he would `excuse' us this time."

The women were finally let off at about 1.30 a.m. after their names and contact details were taken down.