A senior police officer was suspended after a 45-year-old Dalit man in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district allegedly died by suicide after he was distraught over the local police refusing to file a case in connection with the alleged kidnapping and rape of his 11-year-old daughter.
An official said that Mukesh Shukla, station house officer (SHO) of Amaria police station, was placed under suspension after a report by a top officer found that he had exhibited “negligence in handling the case.”
An internal report by Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Anil Kumar Yadav found that SHO Shukla had not displayed fairness in investigation and delayed the filing of report against the accused.
According to reports, the police had allegedly refrained from filing a case and instead “forced a compromise between the accused and the complainant”.
Talking to reporters, SP (Pilibhit) Atul Sharma said the department has started an inquiry against the suspended SHO which be conducted by the Circle Office, Pilbhit Sadar, Dr Prateek Dahiya. The CO has been asked to submit the report within a fortnight.
What’s the case?
On May 9, an 11-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted by three men—all in their 20s— and later raped for an entire night before being let go.
The victim returned home the next morning and narrated the ordeal to her parents who then approached the police. However, the cops allegedly refused to file an FIR and instead mediated a “forced compromise” between the victim and the accused in presence of some relatives.
Reports said that the cops did not even call or inform the rape survivor’s parents and instead SHO Mukesh Shukla “mediated” the compromise and “closed the matter.”
The victim’s family has alleged that the police refused to file their complaint and were asked to leave by the cops.
They claimed that the accused also threatened to frame the minor girl’s father in a false case and allegedly even filed a fake complaint against their father on May 16 wherein the prime accused claimed to have consumed poison due to “harassment” by the Dalit man.
The distressed man, a marginal farmer, eventually died by suicide on May 17.
An official said the police registered an FIR against the accused on May 17 under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 306 (abetment of suicide), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the POCSO Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The official said the accused, who belong to the OBC community, have been arrested and further investigation is underway.
For More News Read @Bharat18
