Gurugram: A woman police constable has written to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini, accusing an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of sexually harassing her and other fellow colleagues.
In the letter, undersigned by seven women police personnel, the complainant also accused a female Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and a Station House Officer (SHO) of running “a racket that involves other women”.
ThePrint has accessed the contents of the letter, which has been widely circulated on social media.
Fatehabad Superintendent of Police (SP) Astha Modi, who is heading an inquiry brought against the SP-rank officer, said that the statements of 19 women personnel “were recorded, but no evidence has come to light”.
“Preliminary findings so far suggest that the allegations are suspicious, and a conspiracy cannot be ruled out,” the Fatehabad SP told ThePrint.
The inquiry report, she added, would soon be completed and submitted to headquarters.
SP Modi said that she had conducted a preliminary probe on orders of the Director General of Police (DGP).
Meanwhile, Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia told The Print on Sunday that the panel has summoned the IPS officer as well the woman cops mentioned in the letter to her office and that they have been told to present their cases.
She said that the commission would ensure that a fair probe is conducted to look into the allegations mentioned in the letter.
The complainant alleged that the IPS officer pressured her to engage in “physical relations” and threatened to ruin her Annual Confidential Report (ACR) if she refused his advances.
She further alleged that when she reached out to the woman DSP, she was told that such actions were necessary for career advancement.
In her letter, the woman police constable stated that if the complaint was not taken seriously, she would be forced to take the extreme step of resorting to suicide.
Contacted by The Print on Saturday, the IPS officer said that he brought the matter to the notice of the DGP two days ago and that he requested the Haryana police chief to get the matter probed by a senior woman IPS officer.
The contents of the letter were defamatory, he said. “(Even) after it was established that those mentioned in the letter didn’t write these (allegations), my reputation would suffer irreparable damage by then.”
The letter mentioned that the IPS officer’s wife and children did not stay with him.
“One day, the SHO of the women’s police station took me to the SP’s residence. Only the gatekeeper was present. The SP and SHO told me to make tea in the kitchen. When I returned with the tea, the SHO was gone. As I handed the tea to the SP, he held my hand and tried to force himself on me. I resisted and managed to leave the room,” the woman constable alleged.
“After the incident, I found the SHO outside the SP’s camp office and told her what had happened. She became annoyed and said I needed to cooperate with the officers. Feeling distraught, I left the SP’s residence in tears. I later informed the woman DSP, who also advised me to ‘cooperate a little’ for the sake of promotion, claiming I would then have a secure future. Hearing this, I left the office. After this incident, the SHO continued to harass me mentally and threatened to ruin my ACR.”
The SP is supported in this misconduct by the DSP and the SHO, who lured employees with promotions to engage in such acts, she alleged.
“I am not the only woman who has suffered this way. The SP has an eye for attractive female officers. After selecting some one, the woman DSP and the SHO pressure the female officers with promises and threats to participate in degrading acts. If they refuse, they’re threatened with poor ACR ratings. The SP had similar relationships with several women in his previous postings,” the woman constable alleged.
The letter further alleged that a widowed woman constable faced the same harassment but a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) came to her rescue. “Despite this, the SP spoiled her ACR.”
Former wrestler and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat said that just as the “protectors of women wrestlers became their predators”, the same is now happening with Haryana’s daughters within the police force.
“I have little hope that either the Haryana or the Central Government will deliver justice to these women in the Haryana Police. By now, their voices would either have been silenced, or are being silenced. The entire police and political system breaks you and your family. They force you to compromise with injustice. Just as every section of society stood with us, we and the entire society stand with them too. The guilty must be punished,” she posted on ‘X’.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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