By 
25-09-2024
Valentina Palcovicova
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
A retired high court judge will investigate allegations that a 32-year-old woman was physically and sexually assaulted by police inside a station in Odisha, following a massive public outcry. The woman, a law graduate and restaurant owner, was seeking help with her fiancé regarding harassment by men on the road in which she was ignored and brutally assaulted by police.
The woman detailed her abuse on a video which went viral on social media. In a wheelchair with a collar on her neck and arm in a sling, she recounts her assault to a journalist. She explains how she went to the police with her fiancé after closing her restaurant as they had been harassed by a group of men on the road. The police had refused the complaint and were more frustrated once the women asserted her rights. The situation further intensified once her fiancé was placed in custody. Upon her protests to this, she was pulled, hit, dragged and strangled by two female police officers. As a result of her resistance, her hands and feet were bound and she was locked in a room. A male officer assaulted her and threatened to rape her several times during the night.
Last week the media in India reported that the police had received an army officer and his fiancée under the influence, acting aggressive and alleging that the women had slapped a police officer and bit another officer.
A retired high court judge has been appointed to investigate the alleged assault in the police station. The alleged assault of sexual misconduct by police directly violates the Criminal Law (amendment) Act 2023 which ensures strict penalties for sexual violence specifically by public servants. Moreover, it is necessary to be aware that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) states that a woman cannot be arrested between sunset and sunrise without the approval of the magistrate, elucidating the procedural violations.
This incident has also raised concerns over the lack of CCTV cameras in the police station disregarding the supreme court directive which requires all police stations to install surveillance for accountability.
This case intensified calls for stricter enforcement of laws protecting rights and police accountability in India.
Sources and Further Readings:
Pandey, G. (2024, September 24). India anger over alleged sexual assault on woman inside police station. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k96ne33po. Accessed on 22 November 2024.
Government of India. (2023). The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2023.
Government of India. (1973). Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
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