Karnataka IPS officer accused of blocking IFS officer husband from meeting son

A complaint has been filed with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against 2010-batch Karnataka IPS officer, Vartika Katiyar, by her estranged husband and Indian Foreign Service officer Niteen Yeola. In his complaint, Niteen, who was earlier this year accused of dowry-related violence and harassment by Vartika, has accused Vartika, in turn, of blocking him from meeting their son. The NCPCR has directed the Director-General of Police in Karnataka to take necessary action.

The NCPCR, in a statement, said that it has received a complaint from Niteen against Vartika, who is presently posted in Bengaluru, alleging she “blocked him and denied the access and visitation rights to meet his son (name redacted), which is against the natural rights of (son, name redacted) to get healthy and normal upbringing by both parents.” In November 2020, a family court had allowed Niteen to have visitation rights to meet their seven-year-old son.

Niteen has alleged that Vartika used her “police position” to block Niteen and deny him visitation rights and that she also threatened to file a false police complaint against Niteen if he keeps asking him to meet the son.

“The complainant has alleged that Vartika Katiyar threatened him to file false complaints against him, using her police position, and bypassing the Honourable Supreme Court guidelines, despite the fact that the Honourable Family Court vide order dated 14.11.2020 had granted him access to his son,” the NCPCR said.

In February this year, the IPS officer had filed a complaint of dowry-related violence and harassment against her husband, IFS officer Niteen as well as his family in Bengaluru. Vartika, who is superintendent in the KSRP Research Centre, had said in her complaint that she allegedly underwent years of financial, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, a Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and his family, which also resulted in an injury in 2016.

Niteen had countered her charges, and in his statement to the police, he had called the complaint “completely malicious, false and an afterthought,” alleging that the complaint filed by Vartika was an attempt to subvert the ongoing judicial process and malign his image when a divorce and custody case is underway.