Jharkhand woman alleges cops harassed her on court premises

The district police have begun investigation into the allegations of molestation by two policemen of a woman complainant at Latehar civil court premises and thrashing of her brother when he protested the harassment.

A young woman who is fighting a legal battle against her in-laws for last one year had informed the police on Thursday that two policemen who were deputed at the court premises used to sexually harass her whenever she came to the court to attend the proceedings.

“I used to come alone to the court. On Thursday, I had come with my brother and on seeing one of the two policemen who harassed me; I narrated my woes to my brother. When my brother asked them why he did so, he (the policeman) called his companion over phone and dragged my brother to the court locker room and badly thrashed him,” the woman, a resident of Latehar village informed.

The brother requesting not to be named said, “They dragged me from near the district judge’s chamber and beat me up badly. They also snatched my mobile phone.”

“This is a shame that such incident happened inside the court premises with a woman who is fighting for justice,” the brother pointed out.

The duo somehow managed to reach the superintendent of police (SP) office and lodged a written complaint. They also approached the Latehar district legal service authority (DLSA) on Friday demanding security from the accused policemen.

The Latehar superintendent of police Prashant Anand said, “We are first trying to ascertain what actually happened in the court premises on Thursday. A probe into alleged molestation charges is also underway. We are looking into all aspects before initiating any action in this regard.”

Meanwhile, the Latehar sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Anuj Oraon met the complainants as part of the inquiry today.

EoM

First Published: Feb 09, 2019 10:56 IST