A charegsheet has been filed against a Sub Inspector of Laliya police station, Balrampur, in a case of illegal confinement, torture, false implication and custodial rape, as a result of persistent follow up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The chargesheet has been filed under charges of rape and criminal intimidation.
Additionally, departmental action has been taken against the then Additional Superintendent of Police and the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Balrampur as proper investigation was not carried out in the case.
During its enquiry, NHRC had found that a young man and a woman from Balrampur district had eloped and got married in Mumbai in 2014. The girl’s father lodged a complaint of kidnapping with the police in the matter, following which, the newlywed couple was called to Mathura police post of Balrampur district.
Both were detained in separate cells at the police post and the Sub Inspector committed sexual assault upon the woman, and even after she complained, no prompt lawful action was taken in the matter. Instead, the police continued to pursue the cases of underage marriage despite a City Court having held both of them of major age and allowed the girl to live with her husband.
The police went ahead and charged the husband with rape and also falsely implicated her father-in-law while coercing her to retract her allegations against the Sub-Inspector.
During the course of enquiry, the NHRC found that the then Superintendent of Police, Balrampur, had failed to give a clear chain of incidents having unity of time, action and place involving the couple’s marriage and action taken on another FIR registered by the girl, alleging sexual assault by a Sub Inspector.
As per the NHRC’s recommendations, the state government interim relief of Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh respectively to the woman, her husband and her father in law. The Commission has also asked the Chief Secretary and the DGP, Uttar Pradesh to see that the departmental proceedings are concluded against the remaining delinquent police personnel including the supervisory officers in accordance with law expeditiously.
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