Two Assam Police officials have been suspended for allegedly assaulting and molesting a woman from Meghalaya inside a police station, The Shillong Times reported on Thursday.

Goalpara Superintendent of Police, VV Prakash Reddy, told The Meghalayan that a case has been filed against Sub-Inspector Bishnu Bahadur Newar and Constable Mamata Joshi at the Dudhnoi police station, where the woman was allegedly assaulted on July 4.

“An independent inquiry is also going on, there should not be any bias,” Reddy added.

The two police officials were suspended based on a complaint filed by a woman from Lower Nogolpara village of Meghalaya’s North Garo Hills district.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that some personnel from Assam’s Dudhnoi police station had asked her to appear with her husband on the afternoon of July 4, The Meghalayan reported. On reaching there, the police said that a person named Dhrubananda Choudhury had filed a complaint against the couple in June, the woman added.

Choudhary had alleged that he had paid Rs 95,000 to the woman’s husband and asked him to deliver 29.3 tonnes of coal to a site in Dainadubi town.

However, Choudhary had accused her husband of not delivering the consignment, the woman said.

She added that Choudhary, who was also present at the police station, and some police personnel threatened the couple, used abusive language and asked them to pay Rs 20 lakh on the spot.

As the couple said they would not be able to pay the amount, they were beaten up with batons, forced to sign on some stamp papers and blank sheets, and Rs 50,000 which they were carrying was snatched, the woman said in her complaint.

Later, the husband was asked to leave and arrange for Rs 20 lakh. However, when he did not return for an hour, Constable Joshi and some other police officers molested the woman and assaulted her using sticks and cable wire.

Several organisations of the Garo community held protests on Thursday against the assault. Garo Development Council Chairman Alex K Sangma has criticised the brutality and demanded justice for the woman and her family.