Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav paid a surprise visit to the capital’s police headquarters Friday and ordered disciplinary action against a top officer over a viral video of a woman being abused in his district.
The woman, who stays in Ashoknagar district’s Rampura, was seen in the clip being dragged out of her home by three men, with one of them brandishing a sword. The other two carried iron rods. The men have been arrested.
They zoomed away on a bike only after neighbours intervened, but the chief minister had some tough questions for the district’s Superintendent of Police Vineet Kumar Jain. He also instructed senior officers to ensure that they were regularly updated about what went on in their districts, and not be satisfied by just arresting a habitual offender, but also “publicising the arrest on social media”.
After the assault, the woman complained to the police, telling them that she had been previously raped by one of the assaulters Kallu Khan, who had also filmed the act. Khan was apparently furious at the woman’s family for fixing her marriage to another man.
Her brother said Khan was their neighbour and regularly pressured his sister to marry him. “He kept telling her of the video he had of them. But when he heard we had arranged her marriage, he descended on the house, and thrashed my father and me with a steel rod,” he added.
The woman also told the media that she had been abused for over a year, adding, “He arrived after hearing about my wedding, and tried to drag me out of the house. When I refused, he attacked my brother and father.”
The woman said she was scared to report the matter earlier because Khan had threatened her with consequences.
Sub Divisional Police Officer Vivek Sharma told the media that the incident took place on Thursday. He said the girl’s father and brother got into a scuffle with them around 6 pm but did not report it to the police. “Forty-five minutes later, there was a second round of argument, following which the accused reached the victim’s house with rods and swords as was seen in the video. While registering the case, the father and brother of the woman did not inform the police about the rape by Kalu Khan,” he said.
Sharma said the woman told them about the rape after the father and brother came back to the police station from their medical check-up. After a detailed investigation by a woman police officer, a case of rape was registered, he said.
The accused have been charged under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 366 (kidnapping).
Over allegations of delay in registering the case, Sharma explained: “There are reports that the woman and the accused were known to each other and in a relationship. This is being considered in the investigation.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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