It now turns out that the six-year old Dalit girl Komal was brutally beaten up by the police on a false complaint of theft.
It now turns out that the six-year old Dalit girl Komal was brutally beaten up by the police, television images of which sent shockwaves across the country, on a false complaint of theft.
The theft case against her with the Jaswantnagar police has been dropped and a case under CrPC 182 for registering a fake complaint has been lodged against Anju Katheria, police said.
Katheria had alleged that Komal had stolen Rs.280 from her wallet at a market in Jaswantpur area.
Television footage showed Komal being lifted by her hair by policemen and thrashed while some others stood mute spectators to the horrific incident.
Following national outrage, senior sub-inspector Shyamlal Yadav was sacked while SHO Chandrabhan Singh suspended. In all, six policemen were booked under various sections of IPC and SC/S (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Yadav surrendered to a local court on Thursday and was remanded to a 14-day judicial custody.
Komal's family, shaken by Monday's incident, has been provided with security and four police constables have been posted at their residence, sources said.
DIG Kanpur S.N. Sabat, who has been asked to conduct an inquiry, met Komal, her parents Rajkali and Bhoop Singh as well as Katheria.
Asserting that the outfit's drive was not politically motivated, Muthalik said "as a citizen of the country, it is my democratic duty to put an end to anything that is obscene."
While issuing the threat to marry off couples who dated in public, he insisted that while holding protests, Sene activists "would not take the law into their hands".
Muthalik claimed his activists had been working for the last 10 years and had "succeeded in putting an end to the Valentine's day celebrations in five districts of Karnataka".
The Sene chief said he faced 53 cases and appeared in 41. To a scribe's retort that if the couple were minors an act of marriage would be unlawful, he said that in such cases the couple would be counselled and the police informed about their activities.
Srirama Sene leaders warned parents who did not want their wards to be married off to ensure that their children do not step out on February 14.
Reacting to Union minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhary's comments that he would not understand love since he was a celibate, Muthalik said "being a brahmachari does not mean I do not understand love" and said "it was not right for a woman who was a national leader to remark like this".
Muthalik claimed that he had "defended women in distress whenever situations arose, unlike Choudhary".
On reports that the pub attack involved extortion, he challenged those making the allegations to provide proof. "None of my workers have resorted to extortion", he said.
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