Drunk cop abuses woman aboard bus, thrashed; video goes viral

PATIALA: Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Didar Singh, posted with Government Railway Police, Sangrur, was beaten up by a co-passenger and others for allegedly misbehaving with a woman on a state-run Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), at Patran on Friday evening.

A video of the incident went viral on social media on Saturday, though the Patiala district police said they were waiting for a formal complaint before registering a case.

As per available information, the woman boarded the Sangrur-Patran bus from Mehal Kalan on the way.

Co-passenger Jaswinder Singh of Patran alleged that the ASI, who was drunk and not in uniform, pulled her by the arm and asked her to sit with him. “However, when she resisted, he started abusing her and disrespected Sikh religious symbols worn by her, a baptised woman,” he said.

He added that the ASI, also a Sikh, continued his unruly behaviour in the bus after she got off at her village halt. Co-passengers, including Jaswinder, thrashed him when the bus reached the bus stand in Patran.

In the nearly two-minute video, people gathered are seen and heard egging a man on as he explains what the policeman alleged did, and then kicks and punches him.

“On the basis of the video that has surfaced on the internet, we have summoned both Didar and Jaswinder, so that required action can be taken,” said Amanpal Singh, station house officer (SHO), Patran.

Among those who shared the video of the thrashing was Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who is a legislator from the Sikh-dominated Rajouri Garden seat in Delhi. “If this is how Amritdhari (baptised) women would be treated in Punjab, where else will they feel secure?” he wrote with it.

“I have tweeted Captain Amarinder Singh about the incident so that the strictest possible action can be taken against erring ASI (sic),” Sirsa added in his post. He wrongly identified the man as a station house officer (SHO) though.

INCIDENT TOOK PLACE IN A PRTC BUS; PATIALA POLICE SAY THEY ARE WAITING FOR A FORMAL COMPLAINT BEFORE REGISTERING A CASE