Superintendent of Police P.R. Patil, who was booked for sexually harassing a woman constable on Tuesday, used every trick in the book, from invoking the name of the victim’s family deity to saying he was in an unhappy marriage, to seduce her, the victim has told the police.

Mr. Patil, in charge of the Nagpur unit of the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau, was booked by the Sadar police station for allegedly stalking and sexually harassing the victim, a 28-year-old constable posted with the same unit, over a period of several months.

According to the police, the victim has said in her statement that shortly after Mr. Patil took charge of his posting in May 2017, he called her to his cabin and told her he worshipped the same deity as her.

Continued harassment

“On several occasions, he told me that god had sent him to help me. I was preparing to appear for the police sub-inspector selection exams at the time, and he told me he knew about it and would help me in every way possible. I was quite surprised that he even knew about it, as I had not told too many people about it. Over the next few months, I became convinced that he was keeping tabs on me,” the victim has said in her statement.

She said the harassment grew worse with each passing day. He asked her if she looked the same without make-up and how she maintained her figure, sources said.

“Soon, he started saying things like even a eunuch would feel attracted to her after seeing her. On at least one occasion, he caught her by her hand and tried to get physical in his cabin. Mr. Patil would also send sketches of nude women to her. He soon started telling her he was in an unhappy marriage and that he would keep her very happy if she agreed to marry him,” an officer with the Nagpur police said.

The victim has also told the police that, barring a few calls from his personal cell phone, Mr. Patil would call her using voice calling applications or WhatsApp so that there would be no record of the calls.

“Ultimately, I told him that what he wanted would never happen, and that he should leave me alone. In response, he said the deity I worship wants us to be together. I told him to stop insulting my deity and my modesty and walked out of the room. By this time, my colleagues had started asking me why he would call me to his cabin so many times,” the victim has said in her statement to the police.

Forensic testing

The police are verifying the claims made by the victim and have sent the electronic evidence submitted by her for forensic examination, after which further course of action will be decided, police officers said.