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‘Will fall at feet’— TN police officer says DGP begged her not to file sexual harassment case

The incident took place on 21 February, when a Tamil Nadu officer alleged the special DGP held her hand, kissed it and sang for 20 minutes. An FIR was filed on 1 March.

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Bengaluru: A Tamil Nadu woman officer, who has accused a special director general of police (DGP) of sexual harassment, has alleged that the male IPS officer went to great lengths to prevent her from filing the complaint, including repeatedly pleading with her and also “misusing government machinery” to intimidate her.

In the FIR filed on her complaint, the officer has alleged that the DGP repeatedly told her that he would “fall at her feet and apologise for his actions”.

The FIR was lodged on 1 March. In it, the officer has alleged that the special DGP had time and again held her hand, kissed it and even made her sing. According to the FIR, the incident occurred when the woman officer was on duty in Karur district as part of Chief Minister Edapaddi Palanisamy’s visit on 21 February.

In the FIR, the woman officer has alleged that the special DGP sought forgiveness when he learnt that she was about to file a complaint with the “head of the police in Chennai”, a day after the incident.

He even allegedly called up her father-in-law to reach a “compromise and conciliation”.

Her complaint states that when she was on her way back to Chennai from Karur, her husband called her and told her that his father had received a call on behalf of the senior DGP.

“My husband called and informed me that someone had spoken to my father-in-law and told him that the DGP (name withheld) behaved inappropriately with me and that he was ready to fall at my feet and seek an apology,” the complaint reads. “My father-in-law was disgusted and cut the phone call.”

The Madras High Court has taken suo motu notice of the alleged harassment and is now directly monitoring the case, which is being probed by the crime branch. The court has also barred the media from naming the two officers.  


Also read: How a 19-yr-old ‘stalked, blackmailed’ 50 women online for over a year, before he was arrested


Officer alleges DGP attempted to stop her filing complaint

The woman officer had filed two complaints, first about the incident and the second detailing “criminal acts” that ensued to prevent her from reaching the police headquarters in Chennai.

She has alleged that the special DGP sent her a message through three IPS officers of his equivalent rank to convince her to cancel her trip to the police headquarters.

“The DGP kept calling me but I did not pick up his calls. He sent me a WhatsApp message saying ‘(name withheld) please call me’,” the FIR states.

The officer has further stated the special DGP was behind a “striking force” that also attempted to stop her from filing her complaint.

“The striking force vehicle was stationed before my official car to stop me from proceeding forward,” the FIR reads. “They took out my car keys and I was sitting inside the car alone feeling threatened for my life… They told me that the special DGP had asked them to block my car. I demanded to be allowed to go but they did not clear the way.”

The woman also said that another officer told her that the DGP wanted to talk to her.

“I waited in my car for five minutes and then took the cell phone,” the FIR reads. “The first thing he said was ‘I will fall at your feet and apologise for my actions’.”

The woman officer has further said that she was determined to report the incident to the HQ and communicated it to the officer.

The sexual harassment case

In the FIR, the officer has alleged that the special DGP had told her that she could accompany him in his car during the chief minister’s meetings on 21 February.

The FIR states that in the car, the senior officer allegedly held her hand and started singing “for about 20 minutes”, after which he lifted her hand and kissed it.

“I took my hand away and told him I was not comfortable and that it was inappropriate. He said only five minutes and took my hand again,” the FIR states. “At this point due to tension and anxiety, sweat had built up on my palms and he realising it, gave me his towel to wipe off the sweat.”

During the journey, he allegedly showed her a picture, which he had clicked of her earlier, during his visit to her office premises.

The FIR states that the IPS officer told her that he had saved the picture among his favourites as he could easily access it.


Also read: Customs officer compulsorily retired for ‘sexually harassing’ Uzbek woman at Delhi airport


 

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. What type of women is she??? She should have slap him @ that very situation itself & kick in his balls instead of sweating herself, this also shows how poor is IPS officers training as they couldn’t fight physically

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