Rajkot: A woman alleging harassment by two constables has launched a hunger strike near Porbandar superintendent of police (SP) office, demanding an First Information Report (FIR) be lodged against two cops, who are posted in Udhyognagar police station.
The woman, who is a mother of three, has alleged that the constables barged into her house in Sitaramnagar area on April 11 without any warrant and tried to molest and rape her. “I started screaming and somehow managed to release myself from their grip,” she told TOI.
She wants the constables to be booked under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (outraging modesty of a woman). The woman is living separately from her husband for the last two years.
The woman has been sitting on the hunger strike since April 30 with her children. On Thursday, she vehemently resisted all attempts by the women police constables to get her medical check-up done.
Her neighbour Nirmala Maheshwari said, “Police forced her to go to hospital for medical check-up and when she refused, she was lifted by her arms and legs and taken to hospital, where doctors refused to treat a person brought forcefully. When police understood that they can’t admit her into hospital, they abandoned her and then she started walking towards her camp without shoes and fell unconscious on the road. She also refused people’s help too.”
The video of Thursday’s happenings have gone viral on social media.
When contacted, Porbandar superintendent of police Shobha Bhutda said, “The constables were on duty that day. As per the entry in station dairy, they had gone to the area to nab a woman bootlegger and the address they had was similar to that of this woman. The door was open and they entered inside. However, she started abusing them for entering her house. We don’t have any prima facie evidence to support her allegation. We have recorded the statements of neighbours and of some other persons who don’t want to come out publicly, but nobody supports her claims. If we lodged a FIR without evidence, it would demoralize the police.”
Bhutda said if the woman has evidence, she can directly approach the court. Her husband and brother-in-law have given statements to the police, claiming that she has a penchant for raising these kind of allegations against police. Though we have initiated an internal inquiry, we will definitely take action on finding anything substantial.