Aurangabad: Police SI who alleged sexual harassment attempts suicide

AURANGABAD: A 26-year-old woman police sub-inspector (PSI), who had lodged a sexual harassment complaint against a police inspector, attempted suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of her residential building at Osmanabad, about 240km from here, on Friday morning.
The PSI is battling for life with fractured limbs and a head injury at a Solapur-based superspecialty hospital.
The woman’s relatives have alleged that a couple of local journalists were pressurising her to withdraw the complaint against the inspector. One of them, who runs his own local daily, had recently published an article allegedly defaming her. Her relatives also alleged that senior police officers had turned a blind eye to her complaint.
The woman jumped from the building on Yedshi road, where she lives as a tenant, around 7.30am. She was first taken to a local hospital but, considering the nature of her injuries, was shifted to the Solapur hospital. Osmanabad superintendent of police R Raja told TOI, “The woman officer is unconscious. Only she would be able to tell us what prompted her to attempt suicide.”
The woman has been serving in Osmanabad for the last couple of years. In March this year, she had lodged a complaint against the inspector, who is in charge of the Anandnagar police station where she was posted, for allegedly asking personal questions and making overtures. After her plea fell on deaf ears, she made a station diary entry about the harassment at the police station on March 28.
PSI was under tremendous pressure: Dad
Sensing trouble, Raja immediately ordered a senior woman officer to conduct a departmental inquiry against the inspector and, at the same time, transferred the woman PSI to the Osmanabad City police station. “The inquiry should have been completed by now but our officers were busy due to the general elections. I will go through the findings and initiate appropriate action,” Raja said.
The woman’s father said she was unmarried. “She was under tremendous pressure after the journalists started siding with the officer and began asking her to withdraw her complaint,” he said. The father also alleged that the inspector had mentally and physically harassed his daughter.
The woman’s parents were at their hometown, Ambejogai, in Beed district when they got a call from a police officer informing them about her suicide bid.
Police sources said the state police headquarters has taken serious cognizance of the incident and has sought a detailed report from Raja.