The personal price of protest
I heard in Baroda on June 2 that the authorities were planning to demolish Keshubhai's hut. That night, some of us sneaked past the police cordon around Manibeli and entered the hut. Around 11 am on June 3, some 100 police surrounded the hut to demolish it. But when we came out, the startled police said we should leave as Keshubhai had allowed them to shift the hut.
I said we would not budge and went back inside, squatted on the floor and hugged the hut's pillars. The infuriated police started beating me and, after pulling me out of the hut, dragged me by my hair for about 500 metres. I was bundled into a van along with 10 others and taken to the Akalkuwa taluk magistrate. He agreed to let me off if I signed a personal bond of Rs 2,000 and accepted that I had broken the law.
I agreed, but instead of being freed, I was taken to Taloda, where I was remanded to police custody till June 10 without any reason. I was beaten up again on the way. On June 4, I was taken to Aurangabad jail. I was locked up with other women prisoners and was not given food till late the next day.
On June 10, I was taken back to Akalkuwa and produced before the magistrate, who agreed to release me if I signed a bond similar to the earlier one. I protested but was told to shut up if I wanted to be free. I was released and made my way to Bombay.