Gujarat riots convict arrested for punching, slapping journalist Revati Laul during an interview

Gujarat riots convict Suresh Chhara, who was out on parole, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting journalist Revati Laul. [caption id=“attachment_2593164” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Journalist Revati Laul. Screenshot from ANI video on YouTube[/caption] Laul, a former NDTV journalist, has been living in Ahmedabad for over a year and working on a book on the 2002 Gujarat riots. She was allegedly beaten up by Chhara when she was interviewing him at his house in Naroda area of Ahmedabad. “I visited him at his house and I politely asked him if he wanted to share information about himself, his past, family and he, without provocation, started slapping me. He kept on punching me and banged my head to the wall. I somehow managed to flee from the spot,” NDTV quoted Laul as saying. “In January 2015, I had come to India because I am writing a book on the accused in the 2002 Gujarat riots,” Laul told reporters. “Suresh Chhara had committed a lot of heinous crimes and had raped women. He had said later, ‘Maine auraton ka is prakaar balaatkaar kiya ki unka achaar ban gaya (I raped the women in such a way that they were crushed to pieces)’. He was later arrested and convicted for his crimes,” she said. “I was talking to his family members. In July last year, his wife called me and told me that when he had come back home after getting parole, he had raped her,” Laul further said. On being asked whether she will meet a senior police officer over this issue, Laul had said, “I will meet them and ask them how a man like him got parole. Now, since there is evidence against him, he should be sent back to jail.”