ONE GOOD MAN: On a day that the force image took a beating, one braveheart policeman took on a set of rowdies in the Eden Gardens stands during Wednesday?s cricket match. An altercation followed, and the youths were picked up for hooliganism. A brief stint followed at Maidan police station, and then they were released. Picture by Amit Datta

Feroza Khatoon, the Haridevpur resident, in South 24-Parganas, being harassed for over a year by local rowdy Jiyad Ali Sheikh and gang, has been forced to leave home and go into hiding within hours of taking the matter to the police.

The cops did pick up Jiyad late on Tuesday, but he was granted bail on Wednesday. Also, his accomplices are all at large, rendering her home turf unsafe for 25-year-old Feroza.

An official of Keorapukur police outpost said Jiyad was produced in Alipore court on Wednesday, where he was granted bail.

Asked why his cronies, who were harassing Feroza and her family, had not been rounded up, the official said: ?Only Jiyad?s name figures in the FIR and we have apprehended him. There are no other names mentioned, so we have not arrested anyone else.?

At Feroza?s home on Wednesday, there was no missing the shroud of terror.

?We don?t know what to do,? admitted Maqbool, elder brother of Feroza, who was recently beaten up by Jiyad for protesting his sister?s harassment.

?The man (Jiyad) often used to stand naked in front of our house. He once dropped sleazy photographs into our toilet through the window. We have suffered him for years, but he has now crossed all limits. We couldn?t take it any more,? added Maqbool.

Feroza?s friend Rumki Chakraborty, who had accompanied her to the outpost, alleged that on Tuesday evening, the officer they went to lodge a complaint with, A.K. Saha, had ?misbehaved? with them. ?He behaved extremely rudely and seemed quite reluctant to register the complaint,? said Rumki.

Feroza and Rumki later went to meet director-general of police Ajay Prasad, who heard them out and instructed them to file a fresh complaint with Thakurpukur police station, as the first complaint was not clear.

The two women went to Thakurpukur thana late on Tuesday, where the officer-in-charge refused to register the ?second? complaint.

?I was shocked when he said, ?What do you expect us to do, go out there and shoot the culprit??? recounted Rumki, who on Wednesday filed a fresh complaint against Saha with director-general of police Prasad and registered a diary with Keorapukur outpost against the officer.

Feroza, meanwhile, remains in hiding to escape further torment.