CCTV footage at Ballarat police station released by IBAC. Picture: Supplied

Yvonne Berry had taken stress leave from her position in internal affairs with Victoria Police to recover from the ongoing trauma she saw on the job.

But on January 15 last year, Ms Berry was arrested for being drunk in public and was allegedly abused, stripped and stomped by Ballarat police.

Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the allegations against police earlier this year and the victim was only known as “Person A”.

But Ms Berry has revealed she was the one mistreated in custody and is now speaking out about the torture involved in her arrest.

She told ABC’s 7.30 the 16-hour ordeal in the Ballarat station has spurred her to fight against police brutality.

“It could happen to anyone — and I’ve since found out that it did, and it does,” she said.

Ms Berry told ABC officers were barbaric — they allegedly stripped and stomped on her and burned her face with capsicum spray.

She said she even felt forced to drink out of the toilet because officers would not respond to her requests for water.

Yvonne Berry felt like she was in Guantánamo Bay. Picture: ABCSource:ABC

Ms Berry was agitated in her cell and when a female police officer walked in, she stole the officer’s lanyard. Ms Berry claimed it was because she saw capsicum spray and became terrified.

Capsicum spray smothered her face and she told ABC it was “absolutely disgusting, it burns like fire on your skin”.

Police fought with Ms Berry to get the lanyard and shoved her down so she was facing the cold cement of her cell and she was handcuffed.

ABC reports Ms Berry’s pants were pulled down and she was stripped while a heavy officer stood on her ankles and allegedly kicked her.

She told ABC the police were hurling insults at her, telling her she was “f***ing disgusting”.

Ms Berry claimed the torture was not yet over and she was pushed under boiling water, which she said aggravated the burning capsicum spray.

Ms Berry admitted to ABC she witnessed criminals being treated like this before, but never could she imagine what it was like.

She told ABC she was horrified, stressed and demoralised and couldn’t believe this was happening in Ballarat, a regional town about and hour from Melbourne.

“Later on when I am in the cell, later on in the incident, I was just thinking, I’m in Guantanamo Bay. This isn’t Ballarat ... it can’t be,” she said.

Yvonne Berry said she was stripped by police. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

AAP reported the male and female police officers involved were summonsed to give evidence before IBAC in April, as the watchdog was investigating a culture of excessive force at the Ballarat police station.

The regional station had received more complaints than any other across Victoria.

In May, AAP reported a police officer told IBAC she “touched” a drunk woman in custody with her foot, but did not kick her.

CCTV vision from the incident shows Ms Berry being dragged through the station before having her underpants pulled down, leaving her half-naked on the ground.

Charges were put against Ms Berry due to her night in custody but they were later withdrawn and ABC revealed police were considering whether a police officer involved in Ms Berry’s treatment could be charged.

The two officers who faced IBAC have been able to return to work and Professional Standards Command Superintendent Tony De Ridder told ABC he was “personally mortified”.

“I thought, on face value, there were clear breaches of human rights and assaults had occurred, and I also thought the behaviour of our members was inconsistent with our training, the way we ask our people to behave,” he said.