Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has imposed penalty on officers in-charge (OCs) of two police stations in Kolkata on charges of harassing a rape victim.
The division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Gaurang Kanth directed the OCs of Lake police station and Narendrapur police station to pay a token amount of Rs 5,000 each to the victim as compensation for inappropriate behaviour and harassment.
Both the officers have also been directed by the court to individually tender a written apologie to the victim woman.
Although the direction was passed by the division bench on September 5, the copy of the order was uploaded on the website of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. The order was passed on a petition filed by the victim woman, accusing the cops of inappropriate behaviour and harassment.
In the petition, the victim alleged that after she identified the person accused of raping her and the court directed the police to question the man, the police did not take any action against him and instead served her a notice.
She filed the complaint simultaneously at Lake police station and Narendrapur police station.
She also accused the police of visiting her residence around midnight to question her after making a WhatsApp call.
The woman, with the help of rights body Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), had approached the division bench of the Calcutta High Court.
While passing the order, the bench noted that the victim appears to have been unnecessarily harassed in the guise of investigation.
“As the actions of the police officers caused breach of fundamental right to privacy and dignity of the victim, this court would otherwise be inclined to impose appropriate and just compensation payable by the police officers personally to the victim as a remedy for enforcement of her fundamental rights,” the order read.
(IANS)
