Outrage gained momentum in Odisha on Friday, a day after an Indian Army officer’s fiancée spoke out to the media about how she was stripped and sexually assaulted inside Bharatpur police station in state capital Bhubaneswar.
The fiancée of the army officer told reporters that on September 15, a bunch of men on the road had harassed them and they had gone to the police station to seek help. Speaking to reporters after a health check-up at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, the Army officer’s fiancée alleged that she was physically and sexually assaulted by the on-duty police officers.
She said she was returning with the Army officer after closing her restaurant at around 1 am when some miscreants obstructed and misbehaved with them. They managed to escape and reached Bharatpur police station to lodge a complaint about the incident.
“We saw a woman constable at the reception and requested her to register the complaint, but she started hurling abuses at us,” she said. Thereafter, a male officer came and forcibly put the army officer in the lockup, she said.
“I requested the police personnel to release him as an Army officer cannot be put in custody which is unlawful. Then, two female officers dragged me by holding my hair and started thrashing me. A woman officer even tried to strangle my throat and I bit her hand in self-defence,” the woman added.
After that, the woman said, a male officer entered the room and began sexually assaulting her. “After some time, a male officer opened the doors and kicked on my breasts several times. He lowered my pants and his as well. Showing his private part, he asked me how much time you want to remain silent,” the woman told the media. The woman was taken into custody on September 15 and the Odisha high court granted her bail on Thursday.
Odisha DGP Y B Khurania has ordered a Crime Branch probe into the incident, suspended five police officers, sought report on police stations with no CCTV cameras across the state and ordered for registration of case against ‘hooligans’ who attacked Army officer of Sikh Regiment Major Gurvansh Singh and his fiancée while they were returning home on September 14 night.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressing shock over the incident said the incident indicates the “incompetence” of the BJP government in the state. “All have heard of what recently happened to an Army Major and his fiancé at a police station here,” he said.
He demanded a full judicial inquiry into this matter and action must be taken very quickly. Patnaik referred to a previous case: “The day the BJP government refused to take action against the governor’s son on a serious case of assault, others got emboldened.”