IPS officer chargesheeted in Pocso Act

The cop is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl

The Criminal Investigation Department of Assam police has chargesheeted an IPS officer of 2012 batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadre for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year old girlchild of a colleague after a birthday party at his residence.

The chargesheet has been filed against Gaurav Upadhyay under IPC’s Sections 354, 354 A (assault or criminal force to outrage modesty, sexual harassment) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on March 31.

Upadhyay was appointed Superintendent of Police of Chirang district in the state on May 14. The officer was earlier posted at police headquarters in Guwahati.

The incident took place when Upadhyay, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was posted as Karbi Anglong police superintendent.

According to the chargesheet, the girl’s mother, a senior police officer, had gone to Diphu, headquarters of Karbi Anglong, along with her daughter and nine-yearold son in December 2019 to attend the birthday party of Upadhyay’s son. After the party, Upadhyay took the senior officer and her children to show them his office building near his official residence. Upadhyay allegedly forcibly kissed the girl on her lips twice in presence of her brother when their mother excused herself to go to the washroom.

Around 2.30 am, Upadhyay dropped the three at a hotel where he had booked a suite for them. Upadhyay allegedly touched the girl inappropriately on the pretext of showing her a video on his mobile phone in the sitting room of the suite while her brother and mother were in the bedroom. Upadhyay tried to kiss the girl, but she rushed to the bedroom and closed the door.

Upadhyay had invited the family for breakfast the next morning but the girl fearing a similar assault reported the incident to her mother and refused to go. The mother confronted the IPS officer who apologised for his behaviour the following day. The mother filed a case on January 3, 2020, at a women police station in Guwahati before the case was transferred to the CID.

“During the investigation, sufficient evidence has been found to prove that the accused police officer...committed aggravated sexual assault. The accused person used criminal force on the minor victim girl to outrage her modesty, sexually harassed her,” said the charge sheet

The CID has filed two separate chargesheets which have also cited a psychiatrist’s report saying the girl suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of the “mentally traumatic experience”.

The chargesheet filed on March 31 this year has implicated the IPS officer under Sections 354, 354A (assault or criminal force to outrage modesty, sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.