New Delhi: The aftermath of the Odisha Police’s alleged assault on a lawyer-cum-restaurateur and illegal detention of her fiancé, an Army captain, has seen a serving general writing to the chief justice of the Orissa High Court excoriating the police for their actions, while Army veterans and retired police personnel have lined up on either side to fire off allegations.
Both sides have their takes on what exactly transpired on the intervening night of 14-15 September at Bharatpur police station. The 32-year-old woman—the daughter of a retired brigadier—has said that she was beaten up and sexually assaulted at the police station, while the 29-year-old captain has said that all this happened while he was illegally locked up in a cell by the police.
Army veterans have voiced their concerns across social media platforms over how the captain was allegedly mistreated and manhandled by the state police. However, an association of retired Odisha Police officers has questioned the behaviour of the couple, referring to allegations that they were intoxicated, the captain had driven a car in this condition and that they later made a ruckus at the police station, where they had gone to lodge a complaint in a road rage case.
Meanwhile, videos purportedly showing the couple confronting a group of people at the scene of the alleged road rage incident, and later at the police station, have now gone viral on social media. ThePrint has not independently verified the authenticity of these videos.
Two FIRs have been lodged on the basis of the captain’s complaint. One is against the men allegedly involved in the road rage matter, in which seven people have so far been arrested by the Odisha Police. The other FIR has been lodged in the matter pertaining to the illegal detention and alleged custodial torture of the couple. Earlier, an FIR was lodged against the woman at the Bharatpur police station for allegedly assaulting police personnel.
Five police officers have been suspended in connection with the illegal detention and custodial torture case: Inspector in Charge (IIC) Dinakrushna Mishra, Sub-inspector Baisalini Panda, Assistant Sub-inspectors Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath, and Constable Balaram Handa. No arrests have been made so far in this case. Sources said that the police personnel were being questioned.
General’s letter to chief justice
On 18 September, Lt Gen PS Shekhawat, the general officer commanding in chief, Madhya Bharat Area—under which Odisha falls—wrote to the chief justice of the Orissa High Court, alleging that the law had been violated on numerous counts and asking for his intervention. The woman was still in custody at the time and was granted bail by the high court the same day.
In his letter to Justice Chakradhari Charan Singh, seen by ThePrint, Lt Gen Shekhawat wrote that the “prestige of a serving Army officer was demeaned and the modesty and dignity of his fiancée, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired brigadier, was grossly outraged by the police authorities”. He added that when the couple went to the police station to file a complaint, the police officers “acted in a manner unbecoming of their position”.
He further wrote: “They not only humiliated the lady but also molested her and also disrespected the Army officer by putting him under custody without any charge for almost 14 hours.” He also pointed out that the concerned police station did not have CCTVs installed and that this was violative of the Supreme Court’s directions. Criticising the actions of the police, he said their purported statements were “manipulative and aimed at concealing the police brutality on the lady and the officer”.
The general wrote that the actions of the police personnel had deeply shaken the faith of the couple and also the military fraternity as a whole in the law enforcement system. He said in the letter: “The arbitrary manner in which the lady was put through medical examination as also the hastily conducted hearing in front of the magistrate on 15 September are indicative of gross travesty of justice and to an extent, manipulation of evidence.”
He said that the Army was of the opinion that the law had been violated on numerous counts, and pointed out that a serving Army officer had been placed under custody without any offence registered and also without informing the Army authorities.
The general requested that the chief justice take suo motu cognisance of the incident and grant bail to the woman without any delay, that an inquiry be conducted by the Crime Branch in an “absolutely fair and impartial” manner and that the errant police personnel be removed from their posts and adequately punished. He also asked that the police authorities be instructed to install CCTV cameras and for the medical authorities at the Jharpada special jail be held accountable for not providing urgent medical assistance to the woman.
What Army veterans are saying
Army veterans are questioning the effect the incident will have on the morale of the troops and young officers.
Speaking to ThePrint, Maj Gen Yash Mor (retd) said that the incident was “horrific and horrendous”, and a case of sheer “high-headedness” by the Odisha Police. He added that the police had not discharged their duties properly and that they should have taken cognisance of the harassment on the road that the couple were subjected to.
The police’s conduct shows a kind of thinking and audacity at the thana level where there is utter “disregard for the military”, he said, adding that suspension won’t do and that the guilty personnel should be jailed and charged with assault and outraging the modesty of a woman.
He also questioned the culture of police and said their functioning was increasingly archaic. “The thana system even today works exactly like the British times.” He added that every thana should have CCTV cameras installed.
Several veterans echoed a common sentiment, saying that accountability should be sought from the top of the police hierarchy—just as happens in the armed forces when such a grave incident takes place.
Brigadier Sandeep Thapar (retd), another Army veteran, said, “If this can happen with faujis, then I shudder to think what must be happening with poor and helpless people. It is no surprise that people are scared of going to the police.”
He also accused the police of attempting to character-assassinate the woman through the videos being circulated. Governments using the police for political ends and giving them a free hand contributes to such conduct, he added.
Saying soldiers won’t fight if they’re not respected by civil society, Col. Danvir Singh (retd) cited other examples of attacks on soldiers: the assault on two young Army officers and allege rape of one of their women friends in Mhow, Indore earlier this month, and an incident in Jaipur in August when a para commando was allegedly stripped and beaten up by an assistant commissioner of police, who was subsequently reprimanded by Rajasthan minister Rajyavardhan Rathore.
In the Odisha case, “even if, hypothetically, we say the woman was wrong, how do the police have any right to outrage her modesty”, he asked.
He also questioned the Army’s messaging, saying the Army chief should have spoken with those at the top of the police hierarchy and that the defence ministry should also have commented.
Major Mohommed Ali Shah (retd) said that a look on the ground was worth a thousand reports, with Lt Gen Shekhawat—who was in Ladakh for some work—having been called back and now looking into the incident personally.
He added: “I would like to request all serving in the Army as well as the veterans to not go by emotions. In the Army, we stand by our men.”
Like Thapar, Major Navdeep Singh (retd) has said the videos were being deliberately circulated to character assassinate the woman. Voicing his concerns on social media, he said the videos only proved that the “goons” definitely harassed the couple before the woman was shown to be “agitated and argumentative” in the police station.
There’s an image circulating on social media with the image of former Army chief Gen K.S. Thimayya, with the words, “If we cannot defend the honour of our women, how can you expect us to defend the honour of our country.”
This refers to an incident that took place in Amritsar in 1959, recounted by Major General Dhruv C. Katoch (retd) in the magazine Salute: To the Indian Soldier.
According to the magazine article, group of Army officers and their wives had gone to the railway station to see off one of their colleagues. There, some men—led by the son of the then chief minister of Punjab, Partap Singh Kairon—misbehaved with the women.
When these men, including the CM’s son, were stripped to their underwear and paraded in the streets of Amritsar, it riled the chief minister, who reached out to the prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The PM, in turn, is said to have “sought an explanation” from the Army chief, Gen. Thimayya. The quoted line about women’s honour is the reply that the chief gave to the prime minister, as cited in the article.
What the police are saying
Meanwhile, the Odisha Retired Police Officers Welfare Association has written an open letter addressed to Army officers, asking if any action has been taken against the captain.
The letter, seen by ThePrint, says that while errant police officers should be punished in accordance with the law, Army officers have launched a campaign against police in the Bharatpur case. The letter then goes on to say that the couple were inebriated and the captain drove the car in this condition. It alleges that the women had misbehaved and abused some engineering students while in the car.
“The young engineering students will be forwarded to court under your pressure and their future will be ruined because of the high-handed behaviour of the girlfriend,” the letter says, adding that a course on “behaviour in public and public offices for the Army officers not to show high-handedness and abide by the law of the land” should be added.
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