Srinagar, May 9: A 27-year-old mother of two has accused three Jammu policemen, including a station house officer, of inserting a beer bottle and chilli powder inside her genitals while she was in custody on theft charges, prompting a probe and the officer's removal from duty.

The woman, a Dalit, claimed she was stripped, tortured and sexually assaulted, besides being denied food and water for the nearly seven days she was kept at the police station in Jammu. She is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Jammu town.

The action against the officer came after the woman approached a local court, which today directed the Jammu police chief to constitute a team of "honest and efficient officers" to investigate the case.

The woman, whose husband is a labourer, was taken into custody on a complaint from a nurse at whose home she worked as a domestic help. The nurse claimed she had stolen gold jewellery. In her petition filed with the court last week, the woman alleged that her employer conducted illegal abortions at a medical shop she ran in her house at Jammu's Deharan village. The woman said she was arrested on April 25. The police claim she was held on April 30.

According to the FIR, the stolen jewellery was recovered from an acquaintance of the woman in Pathankot in neighbouring Punjab following her interrogation. In her petition, the victim alleged that the nurse had been forcing her to clean abortion waste but she refused. "(The employer) threatened the applicant (the woman) that she will get her arrested in a theft case (if she refused to clean the waste)," her petition said.

"Accused number one (the station house officer) directed the accused number three (head constable) to insert the bottle (in her genitals), which caused unbearable pain. The applicant was not in a position to stand or walk. For all these days, the accused kept the applicant without food and water besides beating her everyday," the petition added. The woman also alleged she was beaten "ruthlessly" before being released on bail last week.

Ordering the probe today, the court cited the medical report that mentioned 11 injuries on the woman's body without specifying the nature. The tests had been conducted on the court's instructions. However, state health minister Bali Bhagat claimed she was not assaulted. "It is all a lie. Even her medical reports are normal," Bhagat said.

Today's order said the allegations were of a "very serious nature and required to be investigated threadbare so that the truth should come out and justice can be imparted to both parties". "Whosoever is found guilty shall face the consequences of the law."

An officer in Jammu said the accused SHO had been attached to the police lines, implying he had been relieved of active duty.