A day after the filing of complaint in the unsavory incident pertaining to the army officer’s torture and sexual assault of his fiancée in a police station in Bhubaneswar, former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal President Naveen Patnaik on Friday demanded a judicial probe in custodial abuse case describing the incident as “very-very shocking”.
The alleged sexual assault of the army officer’s fiancée is very unfortunate, Patnaik said briefing reporters here stating that “we demand a full judicial inquiry into this matter and action must be taken against (culprits) very quickly”.
“The BJP is in office for more than 100 days. In the time of our government, we had a programme where I and my ministers would ring up the telephone to the police stations to ask if there was any complaint from the people who visited the police stations. All are seeing the collapse of the law and order situation. No action was taken about the violence meted out by the Governor’s son to an officer on duty”, Patnaik emphasised while replying to queries by reporters.
The traumatized ordeal encountered by a woman, fiancée of an army officer, in a police station with male police officers kicking up her breast and flashing genital with vulgar comment, threatening to rape her has added horrifying twist to the much-publicised army officer-fiancé custodial abuse case in Odisha.
On Thursday, the victim, daughter of a retired army officer, with tears welling up in her eyes provided the harrowing details of assault, torture inflicted upon her while she had been to Bharatpur police station to seek cops’ intervention in a road rage case perpetrated by a group of hooligans.
”Two women officers dragged me by pulling my hair. Then the duo physically assaulted me. They did not relent despite my fervent plea. Later I was dragged through the corridor of the police station. As I resisted, a lady constable tried to strangle me. I was tied with my hands from behind by a jacket worn by me. Later, they tied my legs with the scarf of a lady constable. They dumped me into a room,” the victim said recounting the harrowing ordeal.
”Then the sequence of physical abuse unfolded. A male officer pulled down my bra and started kicking my breast repeatedly. After the torture at midnight, the inspector-in-charge of Bharatpur police station turned up in the wee hours and molested me lowering by pant. Later he also lowered his pant and flashed his genital threatening to rape me. The head of the police station hurled choicest abuses on me,” concluded the victim woman while sobbing inconsolably.
As the police excesses on 15 September grabbed the spotlight with the Indian Army taking a serious view of it, Odisha Police which had earlier ordered a Crime Branch, suspended five policemen including an officer of Inspector rank, on Wednesday.
The Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the female friend of an Army officer of Sikh Regiment amid allegations that the former was unlawfully arrested after the cops of Bharatpur police in Bhubaneswar assaulted the couple besides molesting and stripping the woman.
The army officer (of Captain rank) and his female friend had rushed to the Bharatpur police station to seek protection from unsocial elements after they encountered a road rage on the highway passing through the city. As the policemen on duty at the police station insisted on a written complaint, a verbal duel ensued. The policemen, unable to digest the show of resistance, allegedly beat up the duo and confined the Army officer in lockup in the police station. Later the army officer’s female friend was badly beaten, stripped and molested as she vehemently protested the police highhandedness. The Inspector-in-charge, who was not present during the occurrence of the incident, turned up later only to verbally abuse the victim woman and put him under arrest. The cops however released the Army officer from lockup after being informed that he was a serving army officer.