Seraikela (Jharkhand), Oct 31 A constable was arrested after a woman accused him of raping her inside a police station in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district, where she had gone to lodge a complaint, the police said on Saturday.
Five policemen, including the officer-in-charge of Gamharia police station, were also suspended for dereliction of duty following the incident that took place on the night of October 29.
In her complaint, the victim had told the police that she had an altercation with her husband on Thursday evening and left home, apprehending that he would beat her up.
She went to a neighbour’s house and contacted the police using her mobile phone. A PCR van arrived at the house and brought her to the police station that night, the police said in a statement.
The officers on duty provided her with a room in the police station to rest. While she was in the room, the accused, a wireless operator at the police station, raped her, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police Manoj Swargiary directed Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Seraikela) Anubhav Bhardwaj to conduct an investigation into the matter.
Based on the SDPO’s report, the police arrested the accused, and a court remanded him to judicial custody.
The SP also suspended the officer-in-charge of Gamharia police station and four other staff on charges of dereliction of duty, irresponsible conduct and indiscipline.
The authorities also closed the five to police lines, the statement said.
The police have seized the clothes the accused was wearing at the time of the incident, and the process to send them to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Ranchi for examination was underway.
(PTI News)
