Bhopal: A senior police officer in Bhopal was arrested on Thursday morning on charges of molesting a female constable. The arrest was made only after the woman sat outside Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s residence all night, seeking action against the officer whom she had charged with sexual harassment.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Dharamveer Bharti confirmed the development and said that the accused, ASP Rajendra Verma, currently posted at the police headquarters in Bhopal, has been arrested.
“We will produce him before the court later in the day,” he said.
Braving severe cold, the woman constable who is also posted at the police headquarters, sat outside Chouhan’s residence on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday. She alleged that no stringent action was taken against the accused, despite severe charges against him. She also accused Verma of threatening her sister.
The woman only left from CM’s residence after senior police officers intervened in the morning.
Based on the recommendations of an internal committee of the police headquarters, which probed sexual harassment charges against Verma, Jehangirabad Police on November 22 booked Verma under Section 354A of IPC.
On the basis of a subsequent probe, another non-bailable Section 354 was slapped on the ASP, leading to his arrest on Thursday.
The victim caused a major embarrassment to her superiors as she tried to meet CM Shivraj on October 21 when he was at the headquarters to review law and order. Denied an audience with the CM, she went on to spill the beans before the media.
“This police officer, who is almost my father’s age, has been troubling me for a while and has touched me inappropriately on several occasions, despite my objections,” she told the media.
She even handed out an audio-visual clip of some of the instances of sexual harassment to the police.
Interestingly, she is not the only one who has put the Madhya Pradesh government in a sticky situation.
Recently, A Deputy Superintendent Pawan Mishra, posted in Indore, was booked under Section 493, which amounts to cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully, including a belief of lawful marriage.
Another young police constable, Nishchay Tomar, posted in Bhopal, was also dismissed from services for stalking and threatening a young PR Manager.
Meanwhile, opposition Congress on Thursday continued with its agitation in the state assembly, over women’s safety, forcing Speaker Dr Sitasaran Sharma to announce a debate on the issue on Friday.
Congress MLAs refused to allow the Question Hour to be conducted in the assembly, forcing the Speaker to announce the debate.
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