Bhubaneswar: Seeking suo motu intervention in the alleged police torture of Army Major and “sexual harassment” of his fiancée at Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar, the General Officer-Commanding in Chief of Madhya Bharat area, Lt Gen PS Shekhawat has written to the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh.
In the letter, the Army commander mentioned that Major Gurvansh Singh and his fiancée were meted out inhuman treatment by police when they requested the police to take action against some hooligans who harassed them on the road on September 14 night.
“The prestige of a serving Army Officer was demeaned and the modesty and dignity of his fiancée, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired Brigadier, was grossly outraged by the police authorities. The police officers on duty acted in a manner unbecoming of their position. They not only humiliated the lady but also molested her and also disrespected the Army Officer by putting him under custody without any charge for almost 14 hours. The medical inspection of the lady also indicates grave injuries, which point to manhandling by the police personnel. The Bharatpur Police Station does not have a CCTV installed which is violation of Supreme Court’s directions. The police actions and their purported statements are manipulative and aimed at concealing the police brutality on the lady and the officer,” the letter written by Shekhawat read.
Contrasting differences have also emerged from the statements of Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prateek Singh and the lady victim.
Speaking to the media, DCP Prateek Singh said that Army officer and his woman friend came to the police station in an inebriated condition. They misbehaved with on-duty police officials and threatened them. The woman also slapped a lady police officer and bit her fingers when she tried to stop her. When the IIC came, he was also misbehaved with, Singh said.
