A police watchdog has confirmed it will investigate claims a woman was raped in police custody.
Zayna Iman claims she was drugged and raped in a police cell in February 2021 after she was detained by Greater Manchester Police. She was arrested after officers arrived at her home in the early hours of 5 February 2021.
Zayna Iman claims she was drugged and raped in a police cell in February 2021
(Zayna Iman/Sky News )
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Friday that it would begin an investigation following her complaint, confirming that it would look “at the nature of the interaction the woman had” with Greater Manchester Police.
Concerned for her welfare, a friend of Ms Iman’s had called the police after she FaceTimed her earlier that evening, having taken cocaine.
The 38-year-old was transported by officers to a nearby station, where she was carried into a jail cell and had her clothes removed whilst apparently unconscious, an element Ms Iman was able to uncover after requesting the CCTV footage through a subject access request.
The footage also shows that she was strip-searched and left undressed for prolonged periods.
Earlier this week, detectives asked computer experts to try to recover two hours of missing footage from the police cell. On Wednesday, police denied withholding the footage deliberately, explaining that the footage from the cell was put onto four discs, one of which was corrupted.
When the files were recovered, it was found that two hours of footage were missing, but by this time, the “parent footage on the servers had been overwritten” as the standard time for retaining the footage had passed, the force said.
Greater Manchester Police added: “We have recovered and secured the servers and have an active line of enquiry – being if the outstanding hours can be recovered by Digital Forensics professionals.”
Ms Iman went to hospital after being released from police custody and was there for five days, documents show. After leaving hospital, she began asking Greater Manchester Police for evidence of what happened whilst she was held in the cell.
After 11am on 5 February 2021, Ms Iman appears topless in the cell
(Cell footage/Zayna Iman/GMP )
She finally received the footage one year later, but two hours were missing. At 1pm on 6 February, the footage shows Ms Iman naked, looking up at the camera, before the screen goes blank. There is also a section the day before where the footage cuts out, with both hours missing from the footage.
A doctor’s entry on 9 February states: “Zayna has spent time with staff trying to make sense of the things that have happened and has now queried whether she was actually raped by the police.”
The report concludes that Ms Iman, “who does not have any prior history of mental disorder”, was admitted with an acute psychotic episode that was resolved without treatment.
“It is highly likely that this is drug related to ‘the date rape drug’ which led to a sexual assault.”
“I’m being restrained despite not being responsive, I’m handcuffed,” said Ms Iman of the footage, who has waived her right to anonymity.
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