Woman constables say it is a common and rarely addressed problem in a male-dominated arena.
It is rather ironic that many woman constables in the Maharashtra police are least surprised by the Kolhapur trainee constable rape case in which two senior personnel have been suspended, one head constable arrested and a superintendent of police (SP) transferred for negligence.
Adding insult to injury, one of the suspended officers, deputy superintendent of police (home) Vijay Parkale was also serving as an advisor to Kolhapur police’s committee against sexual harassment.
The case involves the alleged rape of a trainee constable by members of the police department themselves, besides allegations that 11 other trainee constables were subjected to sexual harassment by seniors from the department.
The trainee constable who tested positive for pregnancy and alleged rape was undergoing training in Kolhapur. Following her complaint, the key suspect, head constable Yuvraj Kambale, was arrested, Parkale and police inspector Dnyaneshwar Mundhe suspended and Kolhapur SP, Yashasvi Yadav, transferred.
The Maharashtra police have more than 12,000 women, mostly constables, in its total force with a strength of 1.66lakh personnel.
Speaking to DNA, a cross-section of women constables revealed that sexual harassment of woman constables in the state police force is “quite common.”
When asked to give details of sexual harassment complaints received and action taken by the Maharashtra police in the past few years, special inspector-general of police, Shobha Ohatkar said, “I have recently taken charge of this post and am on leave presently.”
Former director general of police (anti-naxal operation) Jayant Umranikar, confirmed that he had received harassment complaints from women constables about their night and bandobast duties. “Our additional commissioner of police, Shobha Ohatkar handled the issue,” he said.
The Maharashtra police have two training institutes for woman police constables at Nagpur and Lonavla. “There is a dearth of women trainers for training 800 women constables at a time. Therefore, male trainers are deployed to train them. Some of these male trainers have malafide intentions, as was seen in the Kolhapur case,” a woman constable said.
According to one policewoman, their seniors have not always been helpful when their attention was drawn to cases of sexual harassment. “Rather than taking cognisance of the issue, they always try to strike a compromise. They try to counsel us. But the male culprits are never touched,” she said.
— With inputs from Sandip Dighe and Manasi Saraf Joshi
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