The video shows Binod Kumar Sarkar, being beaten up by District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal at the police station.
The District Magistrate of Alipurduar district in West Bengal was sent on leave on Monday after a video of him thrashing a man went viral on Sunday.
The incident happened late in the evening on Saturday at Falakata Police Station in Alipurduar district of North Bengal.
The video shows Binod Kumar Sarkar, being beaten up by District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal at the police station. Sarkar had been brought to the police station after he spoke indecently with Nirmal's wife, Nandini Krishnan, on Facebook. Nirmal allegedly kicked and slapped Sarkar in the presence of his wife and the officer-in-charge of the police station. The video also shows Nirmal saying, "No one will speak against me in my district," and "If I can bring you to a police station in half an hour, I can kill you at your home."
Kumar was arrested and while he being taken to a hospital for a mandatory health check up, he said, "I was Nandini's friend on Facebook. There was a disagreement on a particular issue. She added me to a group where people were abusing me. I returned the abuses. This is my crime."
Nandini, in a separate post, came to the defence of her husband saying, she was proud of him. "If you want to remove him, remove him. But do not disturb a family man. Yes, we have slapped and kicked the man. Any other person would have killed such men. My husband told me during (our) marriage that he will take care of me… protect me. And he did. I am proud of him," her Facebook post read.
A report regarding the incident has been submitted to the West Bengal Chief Secretary but no one from the government was ready to comment on the issue. Sources said Nirmal asked the North Bengal Divisional Commissioner Barun Roy for leave which was granted. He also said that police were looking into the matter.
Human Rights activists are afoot with protests on the matter. Ranjit Sur, vice president of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) said that they have initiated the process of registering a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as the offender is an IAS officer. "The DM was looking like a mafia don. There should be proper punishment for him. A complaint against the officials of the police station will also be filed because they just stood there and watched like spectators while the man had to undergo such atrocities," Sur said.
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