Uttar Pradesh: Police officer suspended after rape survivor alleges inaction in suicide note
The woman had approached the Dataganj police in UP to file a complaint, but was told to go to Secunderabad instead, where she was allegedly raped.
The Uttar Pradesh police suspended Station House Officer of Dataganj, Amrit Lal, for dereliction of duty on Monday, a day after a 24-year-old woman who was allegedly gang raped in May was found hanging at her home in Badaun, The Indian Express reported.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Tripathi said the woman left behind a suicide note. “A four-page suicide note was found near her body in which she has accused the local police of inaction,” Tripathi said, according to Hindustan Times. “We have sent the suicide note for verification and initiated action in the matter.” Tripathi said the woman’s body has been sent for a postmortem examination.
The woman had gone to the police station on June 15, but SHO Amrit Lal allegedly did not register a first information report. Hours before the woman’s body was found, the police had registered an FIR against three people for allegedly raping the woman. Tripathi said the accused are relatives of the woman and the police were working towards arresting them.
As per the FIR, Tripathi said the woman had visited a market on May 15, where she met her relatives. They claimed her husband, who works as a daily wage labourer in Delhi, was unwell, and that they were going to visit him. The woman claimed she decided to accompany them.
“The victim had alleged that the accused took her to Secunderabad city in Telangana and kept her in a room where they raped her,” Tripathi said. “Around a week later, when the accused were taking her to Delhi, she called her parents using a co-passenger’s cellphone and told them about her ordeal. The victim had said her father, along with some others, reached Delhi railway station. She claimed that upon spotting the group at the station, the accused fled.”
Tripathi said the woman approached the Dataganj police to file a complaint, but she was advised to lodge a complaint in Secunderabad, where she was allegedly raped, PTI reported. The woman, however, insisted that the case be lodged in Dataganj.
On June 12, the woman met Bareilly zone Additional Director General of Police Avinash Chandra seeking directions to register an FIR. Chandra directed the circle officer to file an FIR. Additional Superintendent of Police (Badaun) Jitendra Kumar Srivastava said an investigation is under way.