Two policemen beat up a six-year Dalit girl here for allegedly stealing Rs 280 from a woman following which the UP police chief on Tuesday filed criminal cases against both.
In a shocking case of police brutality, two policemen beat up and scolded a six-year Dalit girl here for allegedly stealing Rs 280 from a woman following which the UP police chief on Tuesday sacked one of them, suspended the other and filed criminal cases against both.
"Senior sub-inspector Shyamlal Yadav has been sacked, SHO Chandrabhan Singh has been suspended and criminal cases have been filed against both," the Uttar Pradesh director general of Police Vikram Singh told reporters in Kanpur adding that
the Etawah SP has also been directed to personally apologise to the child.
The girl Komal was beaten up yesterday after one Anju Katharia took her to Jaswantpur Police Station alleging that the child had stolen Rs 280 from her wallet and gave the money to another boy in a market near Lohamandi in Jaswantpur area.
Sub-inspector Shyamlal Yadav then beat her up although the girl was innocent, the victim's mother claimed in an FIR.
"My daughter saw somebody running away with a wallet in the market, but the police caught my daughter," she claimed.
Television channels showed how Yadav picked the girl by her ears and hair, threatened and scolded her and asked her to admit that she stole the money even as six other policemen, including SHO Chandrabhan Singh, remained mute spectators.
Reacting to the incident, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) dashed off a letter to the UP police chief on Tuesday day asking him to issue circulars to all the police stations on the issue and take strong action against those involved in the incident.
"This incident is condemnable and there is a need to sensitise police against committing such crimes," NCPCR chairperson Shanta Sinha said in New Delhi.
Initially, the district police justified the action, saying Komal confessed to having stolen the money and it was also returned to the owner, but after the news reached the DGP, stern action was taken against the two policemen involved.
Terming the incident "unfortunate", the UP police chief said keeping in mind the seriousness of the incident, quick action was taken even as he accepted that police had been "highly negligent" and the matter would be investigated thoroughly.
Asked if any case has been registered against the girl, he said that police has been instructed to proceed cautiously while using section 107 of CrPC (which deals with preventive detention) against women, children and elderly.
But additional director general, Law and Order, Brijlal said in Lucknow that a case has been filed against the girl on the complaint of the person whose money was stolen. He also said cases have been filed against the policemen as well under the SC\ST Act.
Asked whether the two officers can be arrested under the SC/ST Act, Brij Lal said, "yes they can be" adding "This is an unfortunate incident involving violation of human rights of the child."
"The case against the girl would be thoroughly investigated and no one can be pronounced guilty just on the basis of a case against him or her," he added.
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