No FIR in rape case, 4 cops in dock

THE INQUIRY REPORT SAID INSTEAD OF REGISTERING A PLAINT ON THE SPOT, HE (THE CONSTABLE) ASKED THE FAMILY TO VISIT THE POLICE STATION FOR FILING A COMPLAINT

JAIPUR/ALWAR: Rajasthan police on Thursday suspended a station house officer and three other personnel after a minor rape survivor attempted suicide and six days later her killed himself, as the accused allegedly kept on pressuring the family to withdraw their complaint, after the police failed to book them, shows an inquiry by the police.

On June 18, around 4pm, Ramgarh police station in Alwar district was alerted that a 17-yearold girl jumped into a well to kill herself after she was sexually assaulted by village men. The girl was rescued by her brother. The duty officer went to the spot and visited the girl’s house but didn’t take their complaint, said an inquiry conducted by the police following rape charges being pressed against the accused on the directions of the court.

“Instead of registering a complaint on the spot, he (the constable) asked the family to visit the police station for filing a complaint,” the inquiry report said. The girl’s brother came to the station and gave a complaint against 22-year-old Anish Mev for sexually harassing his sister.

As the brother did not mention the word rape, police took her complaint of sexual harassment.

The next day – June 19 – the brother went to the police station wanting to know what happened to his complaint. The police made him sit for several hours without acting on his complaint.

When he told them that the accused was threatening him to withdraw his complaint, police arrested Anish and his two friends – 32-year-old Mahmood Mev and 19-year-old Taufiq Mev – under preventive sections of 151 of the CRPC. On June 20, the three got bail from SDM court.

On June 24, when the girl was to record her statement before magistrate, her father was found hanging from a tree.