Twenty-six days after 21-year-old Shaheen Dhada from Palghar was wrongfully arrested for allegedly promoting hatred over a Facebook post, she reactivated her account on the social networking website on Saturday.
Shaheen said all she wanted was to return to ‘normal life’. “I reactivated my account on Saturday. I have even switched my phone back on after keeping if off all these days. I am just looking to get back to normal life,” said Shaheen, a management studies graduate. “Of course, I am going to think twice before posting anything on Facebook now. But, I want to let go off the past and start afresh,” she said.
Sudhir Gupta, counsel for the girls, Shaheen and her friend, Rinu Srinivasan, 20, said the police were yet to file a closure report in the case. The state government, on November 29, announced they would drop the charges against the two girls.
State director general of police, Sanjeev Dayal, said the police would not be filing a charge sheet in the case and would submit a closure report in court. Although experts said a closure report could be filed in a day, the police are yet to file one. Vijaykant Sagar, subdivisional police officer (Boisar), who is handling the case, said, “Our investigation is in progress and the closure report should be filed soon.”
Source: Hindustan Times
Within minutes of Shaheen Dhada re-activating her FB account, three friends welcomed her back. One friend, Ankit Upadhyaya, commented, “Back with a bang…Gr8”. To this, Shaheen replied: “Yaaah.”
To others’ greetings, Shaheen responded with thank-yous. Within hours, six people sent her friend requests. She accepted all of them.
A self-confessed Facebook addict, Shaheen expressed delight at reconnecting with the world after a month. Though she loves commenting on city news, she told TOI that she will be more careful now about what she posts on her account. On Sunday, she did not use the account.
Shaheen and her friend Rinu Srinivasan were arrested on November 19 by the police on the complaint of the local Shiv Sena unit after Shaheen lamented on Facebook the region-wide shutdown on the day of Thackeray’s cremation, and Rinu ‘liked’ the comment. Police hastily applied the stringent IPC section of 295 (a) against them for hurting religious sentiments, but later changed it to IPC section 505 (2).
The nationwide outrage over the arrests forced police and the state to backtrack. Transfer orders were given to two senior policemen and a Palghar court magistrate too was moved out. Not soon after, as the Supreme Court questioned the legality of the arrests, the state director general of police and the government decided to drop the charges against Shaheen and Rinu.
The continuing support for Shaheen is evidenced by the two-dozen Facebook profiles in her name, like ‘Shaheen Dhada Official’ and ‘Support Shaheen Dhada’. Called to share their experiences with students and faculty, Shaheen and Rinu will travel to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, on December 21-22.
But for now, Shaheen is waiting for the closure report in her case and for the police security outside her house to be lifted. “It feels like ages since I left home.”
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