India anger over alleged sexual assault on woman inside police station

A retired Indian high court judge will investigate allegations that a woman was physically and sexually assaulted by a group of police inside a police station in the eastern state of Odisha, the authorities say.

After the allegations, levelled last week by the 32-year-old woman and her fiancé – an army officer – led to a huge outcry, four police officials, including three women, were suspended. A fifth policeman was transferred. The action came after the state’s crime branch opened an inquiry into the case.

Warning: This report contains details some may find distressing.

A video of the woman, a law graduate who runs a restaurant in the state capital Bhubaneswar, detailing her alleged abuse by police early on the morning of 15 September has been shared many times on social media.

The footage makes for a difficult watch.

In a wheelchair, with a collar around her neck and one arm in a sling, the woman repeatedly breaks down while narrating to journalists what she says happened to her.

She said she had gone to Bharatpur police station with her fiance after closing her restaurant at around 01:00 because they had been harassed by a group of men on the road.

They asked police to send a patrol car quickly to intercept the men who couldn’t have gone far, she said.

“The police refused to take down our complaint, instead they abused us. When I told them that I was a law graduate and knew my rights, they got even more angry.”

The situation escalated after the police put her fiance in the lockup, she alleged.

“When I objected, two female officials started pulling my hair and beating me. I kept pleading with them to stop. But they dragged me through the corridor and one of them tried to strangle me. When I fought back, they tied my hands and legs and locked me up in a room,” she said, sobbing.

“One male officer came in and took off my bra and started kicking me in my breasts. At around 06:00, the officer in charge of the police station came into the room. He pulled my pants down. Then he lowered his pants and threatened to rape me multiple times unless I stopped screaming for help,” she alleged.

Reports in the Indian media last week quoted police as saying the army officer and his fiancee had arrived at the station drunk and the woman had been aggressive. They alleged that she had slapped a policewoman and bitten another officer.

She was arrested and a magistrate placed her in custody.

But three days after the alleged assault, the high court freed the woman on bail and criticised the police and the lower court that jailed her.

“On careful examination of the record, it appears that the allegations are very serious in nature… They are anathema to the very concept of a democratic and orderly society,” Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra said, adding that the “police had failed to follow the procedure laid down in law while arresting her”.

“Drastic action has been taken against the erring police officers… and appropriate action shall be taken against those found guilty,” the judge’s order said.

The magistrate had also “failed to apply their judicial mind” in denying the woman bail, Justice Mohapatra added.

Since then, many in India have taken to social media to express their anger at alleged police brutality. A large number of former and serving army officials have shared the viral video of the woman and pledged support to her fight since her father is a retired army brigadier.

The Indian army has also written a letter to the chief justice of the high court in Odisha saying that a “serving officer had been kept in custody for nearly 14 hours without any charge” and because of “the grave incident… his prestige was demeaned”.

“The modesty and dignity of his fiancee, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired brigadier, was grossly outraged by the police authorities,” the letter adds.

Her father, who told the BBC that he had spent hours frantically trying to locate his daughter that night, said the police had not even informed him or his family about the allegations against his daughter.

“Some army officers informed me that my daughter had been arrested and sent to jail. I was allowed to meet her only the next afternoon,” he said. “I hope we will get justice.”

The state government said it “respects the Indian army” and is “concerned about the dignity, safety and rights of women”. It has nominated retired Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash to hold an inquiry and submit a report within 60 days.

The woman’s allegations are being investigated and her statement has been recorded, crime branch official Narendra Behera told the media. The seven men accused of harassing the couple were arrested by police and released on bail.

On social media some have commented on the woman’s clothing while others have questioned “the character of a woman who argues with men and drinks alcohol”.

Namrata Chadha, lawyer and women’s rights activist who met the woman in hospital, told the BBC that it is “heart-breaking to see this kind of victim shaming”.

“She has an injured shoulder, a cut on her face and swelling around her eye. She is very traumatised. While talking to me, her eyes welled up several times. I told her, ‘You’ll have to be courageous and face it all.’ She said she will fight to the end.”

Ms Chadha says the police have to follow a standard operating procedure when a woman lodges a complaint.

“It’s their duty to hear her patiently. They are trained to deal with a woman if she is aggressive or agitated. They have to offer her a glass of water, calm her down. But from what she has alleged, it appears that basic rules were not followed.

“Also, how come there were no CCTVs when the Indian Supreme Court mandates it for every police station?” she asks. The police station in question opened only four months ago and is supposed to be a role model for other stations in the area.

Ms Chadha says the case has received a lot of attention because the woman is from a privileged background.

“But no-one know what goes on in this – and other – police stations when ordinary women go to seek help.

“We tell our daughters that if you are in trouble, go to the nearest police station. We tell them it’s the second safest place – after their home. What do we tell them now? Where will a woman go now?”

Additional reporting by Surbat Kumar Pati in Bhubaneswar

If you are affected by issues of sexual assault and are in the UK you can contact the BBC Action Line here