Jharkhand police insensitive, corrupt, says women’s panel

RANCHI - Jharkhand Women’s Commission has accused the state police of being insensitive and corrupt in dealing with cases of abuse and assaults on women. There have been unreasonable delays in filing cases and arresting suspects, the commission has said.

“Jharkhand Police have turned out to be insensitive, ruthless and corrupt while dealing with women’s cases. They hardly bother to lodge the FIR (first information report) in cases of harassment of women. They do it only after the issue is taken up at higher levels,” commission member Vasvi told IANS Tuesday.

She said that the state commission gets scores of complaints from women about police refusing to lodge their FIRs. “We have also received complaints that police officials openly demand money to lodge the report,” Vasvi stressed.

The charges come when brutal crimes against women are rising across Jharkhand.

Rewati Mandal, a resident of Baratudi village under Potka police station of Jamshedpur, failed to get any justice until she was set on fire by the man who allegedly raped her, according to the commission.

Rewati was set ablaze Dec 4 by the man who allegedly raped her a few months earlier. Rewati died Dec 17 at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Jamshedpur.

She had lodged a rape case against Nikunj Mandal at Potka police station, but the accused was not arrested until he set her ablaze, Vasvi said.

On Sunday, police recovered the body of a woman from Mango police station area near Jamshedpur. A long bamboo was found inserted into her private parts. Police suspected rape and murder, but no action has been taken yet, said Vasvi.

Deepika Kumari, a Class 10 student, committed suicide Dec 16 in Jamshedpur’s Bhuiyadih colony by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her house. She was said to have been fed up with eve teasing and unsavoury comments made by two students in the area.

All the three incidents took place within 25 days in Jamshedpur, which is the home town of Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

The state Women’s Commission member also recalled the case in Dhanbad where a man burnt to death his wife and her two sisters early December.

According to Vasvi, the commission finds itself helpless to deal with the situation as even the chief minister only keeps saying that the administration will look into the cases.