Suspended Jharkhand BJP leader Seema Patra arrested for allegedly torturing tribal help

Seema Patra, a suspended BJP leader accused of torturing her domestic help at her Jharkhand home, was arrested on Wednesday (August 31) morning. Patra is suspected to have meted out horrific torture on the domestic help, including smashing her teeth with an iron rod and starving her.

Patra was caught after her son spoke to his friend, a government officer, about the abuse, reported NDTV. He is said to have sought help.

However, Patra insisted she was framed. “I am innocent,” she told mediapersons. As news of her abusive behaviour hit the headline, Patra is alleged to have admitted her son to the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences, claiming he was “unwell”. 

The BJP suspended Patra on Tuesday after a video of her domestic help, a tribal woman, accusing her of torture went viral on social media. Sunita, the help, had been working for her for around a decade.

Patra was a member of the women’s wing of the party’s national working committee. Her husband, Maheshwar Patra, is a retired IAS officer. No evidence has been found against him as yet.

Viral video

The viral video shows Sunita on a hospital bed with severe wounds, barely able to sit up. She says she was held captive, tortured and beaten with rods and an iron pan. She was often starved. Many of her teeth are missing.

In the video clip, she expresses gratitude for Patra’s son Ayushman. “It is only because of him that I am alive,” she says.

Following the video going viral, Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais met with Director General of Police Neeraj Sinha yesterday and expressed “serious concern” over the delay in action against the suspended BJP leader.