Buckling to mounting pressure amid nationwide outrage, the Odisha Government has ordered a judicial probe into the alleged custodial abuse of a serving Army officer and his fiancée in a Bhubaneswar police station on 15 September.
A high-level ministerial meeting presided over by the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi while ordered probe by a retired judge of High Court also requested the Orissa High Court to monitor the ongoing investigation by the Crime Branch of the Odisha Police.
Significantly, prior to the meeting, the CM, two Deputy Chief Ministers, the Revenue Minister and Law Minister met and elaborately discussed the incident with the Army officer and his fiancée as well as the father of the woman.
The judicial inquiry will be conducted by Justice Chittaranjan Das and the findings of the inquiry will be filed within 60 days, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Monday said.
“The Chief Minister has laid maximum emphasis on the rule of law and the state government has also all the respect for the Indian Army. The State government is fully concerned about the dignity, safety and rights of women. The police officers allegedly involved the custodial torture have in the meanwhile been suspended and criminal cases has also been registered against them. Action has also been taken against the youths involved in the road rage. The state government is committed to take strict action against all persons or officials found guilty under the due process of law,” the CMO’s statement added.
Earlier, former Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik had demanded a judicial inquiry and Court-monitored probe of the much-publicized case.
In the meanwhile, the BJD has called for a six-hour Bhubaneswar ‘bandh’ on Tuesday in response to what it describes as a “shameful incident of custodial torture meted out to a serving Army officer and his fiancée.”
The alleged custodial abuse of a Captain of Sikh Regiment and sexual assault of his fiancée in the Bharatpur model police station had sparked massive protest with Opposition BJD and Congress hitting the streets in Bhubaneswar stepping up the demand of immediate arrest of the against the accused cops including the inspector-in-charge of the police station.
The Army officer and his fianceé were meted out custodial abuse on 15 September when they had gone to the Bharatpur police station to lodge a complaint in connection with the road rage case. His female companion who was arrested and sent to jail on 16 September was granted bail by Orissa High Court on Wednesday.
The High Court had pulled up the State police and expressed deep concern over the incident, observing that “allegation made by the accused-petitioner in the present case is an anathema to the very concept of a democratic and orderly society.”
The Army officer earlier in a written complaint to Odisha’s Additional Director General of Police (Crime Branch) Arun Bothra, alleged that “the IIC upon arrival sexually harassed and molested my fiancé and I could hear the screams for 30 minutes. Thereafter my fianceé was illegally arrested and forwarded to the court.”
The traumatized ordeal encountered by the woman, fiancée of an army officer, in the 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-publicized Army officer-fianceé custodial abuse case in Odisha.