The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday suspended a station house officer and two constables
of Mainpuri district after a 41-year-old Dalit man accused them of torturing him when he went to file a complaint about the kidnapping of his wife three days ago, The Indian Express reported.

“In a crime against women in district Mainpuri, the SHO and staff misbehaved with husband of the victim when he went to lodge a complaint,” the police said in a tweet. “The incident was tweeted to UP Police. Taking cognisance DGP OP Singh ordered suspension of the SHO and [other] staff, lodging an FIR against them and putting them behind bars.”

The incident took place in Bichhwan police station area in Mainpuri. The man went to file a complaint about the kidnapping of his 38-year-old wife by three unidentified youths from the Aligarh-Kanpur highway in Mainpuri on Friday night.

“Policemen assaulted him during questioning,” Mainpuri Superintendent of Police Ajai Shankar Rai was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “A medical examination shows injuries on his back and legs.”

After the torture, the man dragged his motorcycle for around 4 km and reached Bichhwan area of Mainpuri district. “With the help of a passerby, he called the police control room and informed them about the incident,” Station House officer of Kurawali Police Station Shiv Singh Chauhan said.

When the police team led by Station House Officer Rajneesh Pal Singh reached the spot, the man claimed that police started questioning him about his kidnapped wife, and then took him to Bichhwan Police Station and the interrogation continued at length there. They eventually sent him to Kurawali Police Station because the incident took place under its jurisdiction.

The couple belonged to Bulandshahr district and were on their way to his relatives’ house on a motorcycle on Friday night when the woman was allegedly abducted by three men in a car. When the husband approached the police for help, the officials who handled the case accused him of “foul play”.

Around five hours later, the woman managed to reach the police station, and complained that the abductors had raped her and taken away her jewellery before dumping her in neighbouring Etah district.

A first information report was lodged against three unidentified men on charges of gangrape, kidnapping and robbery at Kurawali Police Station in Mainpuri on Saturday. However, a medical examination of the woman did not prove charges of sexual assault. “The medical report has arrived and it does not support the rape allegation,” said Rai. “No injuries have been found on her body.”

The police said the investigation was going on, and the allegation of kidnapping appeared to be true.