In a shocking incident revealing police insensitivity, a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh was caught on camera insulting a Dalit woman who approached him to file a rape case.
The 35-year-old Dalit woman and her husband had approached Deoria Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Keshav Chandra Goswami to register a case of rape after a local police station filed a case of eve-teasing instead of rape.
In a bid to get justice, the couple went to the ASP to seek his intervention in the case. But the police officer humiliated her in front of a crowd saying that nobody would dare to rape an elderly woman.
The police officer questioned the woman about her son's age. When she revealed her son's age as 17, the officer said, "Her oldest child is 17. Why would anyone rape such an elderly woman?" The insulting remarks were caught on camera by local media in Deoria in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
According to sources, the woman was raped on Wednesday night by a man named Santosh Kumar who is from the neighboring village.
When the ASP was contacted, he said that the woman had initially filed a complaint of eve-teasing, but later gave a second complaint in which she alleged rape. He said that medical examination on the woman did not confirm rape.
The incident sparked outrage across India. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Rajkumar Vishwakarma apologized for the derogatory comments and said that action would be taken against the police officer.
He also demanded the ASP to give an explanation within two days. "He has to give an explanation within two days. He will be investigated. A case has been filed based on the woman's complaint. We will ensure that such statements that can hurt sentiments are not made by our officers in the future," Vishwakarma said, according to NDTV.
