More than two years after claiming she was drugged and raped in a police cell, Zayna Iman is still waiting for answers and accountability.
In the early hours of February 5, 2021, Greater Manchester Police arrested Ms Iman when they arrived at her home. She had been using cocaine earlier in the evening and a friend of hers worried about her health via video call and called the police.
The 38-year-old was taken by officers to a nearby police station, where she was rendered unconscious, before being taken to a cell, where she was stripped naked.
Surveillance cameras in the cell showed that she was strip-searched and left naked for extended periods of time over the next 40 hours. The Independent ran the video of Ms Iman for several hours.
She went on to claim she was drugged and sexually abused while incarcerated, but she had to try and work out the horrific details for herself.
“I requested the footage and documents in February 2021,” she told The Independent, waiving her right to anonymity. “They sent the documents in October 2021, but didn’t send the footage until February 2022.”
Even when she received the footage, two hours had passed, leaving Ms. Iman with more questions than answers.
At some point during the detention, she appeared distraught and dropped a nearby cup. Then the supply was interrupted for one hour.
She claims that after 9.49am on February 5, the screen went black and a police officer had just asked her if she had “had anal sex before”.
“When I was asked that question, I knew I was in trouble,” she said. “I can’t prove it because Greater Manchester Police won’t reveal the tone (in the cell) to me.”
When Ms Iman reappeared at 11 a.m. on the 5th, “I was shirtless and I started having sex,” she said. She claimed her actions were the result of taking rape drugs while in custody.
“Date rape drugs have one purpose: They cause amnesia,” she said. “Secondly, they make you more sexual, so you’re primed, so you’re compliant.”
At 1 a.m. on Feb. 6, Ms. Iman appeared to be pointing to blood on a bench. About twelve hours later, she is completely naked, facing the camera, before the screen goes black again. Police also did not give her a recording of the next hour.
Video from around 7.20pm that night shows Ms Iman pointing to a white bench and black spots on her legs. “I remember putting my hand between my legs – from back to front – and it was covered in blood,” she recalls.
Detention records show Ms Iman was released without bail at 7.48pm on the 6th, but cell footage shows she remained in the cell until 8.14pm when she was issued a tracksuit . She was admitted at 7:34 p.m., according to hospital records. “None of the [GMP] documents matched,” Ms Iman said.
