Five police officers suspended over Bhopal gang rape

Bhopal, Nov 3 (IANS) Five Madhya Pradesh police officers were on Friday suspended for dilly-dallying over registering an FIR on the complaint of a 19-year-old woman who was allegedly gang-raped by four men in the state capital on Tuesday, a senior police officer said.

The action followed a recommendation to this effect in a report submitted by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sudhir Lad on the incident and the role of police personnel, who allegedly failed to act on the young woman's complaint.

Taking serious note of the gang rape of the teen, whose parents are police personnel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday held a meeting with senior police officers and ordered action against the errant officers.

Chouhan also ordered formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident. The team will be headed by DIG Lad.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Makrand Deuskar told the media: "Officer In-charge of MP Nagar Police Station Sanjay Singh Bais, Habibganj Police Station In-charge Ravindra Yadav and In-charge of GRP Police Station of Habibgaj Railway Station Mohit Saxena have been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty."

Two Sub Inspectors of MP Nagar and GRP police stations had also been suspended, and the Superintendent of Police of MP Nagar area attached to the police headquarters, Deuskar said.

The victim, whose parents are police personnel themselves and posted in another city, was returning from coaching classes late on Tuesday evening when she was accosted by four inebriated persons near the Habibganj Railway Station who raped her for three hours.

Two city police stations kept dilly-dallying over registering of the FIR, saying the place of occurrence did not fall within their area. Finally, the case was registered two days after the incident. Two of the accused have been arrested.

The Congress on Friday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Chouhan over the gang rape and the subsequent delay in lodging of the FIR.

Raising questions over the law and order situation as well as the relevance of "women empowerment" under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule in the state, the party leaders wondered how campaigns like "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" would succeed in Madhya Pradesh.

Pointing out that it took two days to lodge the FIR, they said the role of police was at best "callous" and "irresponsible". They held a demonstration at the local Habibganj Police Station, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place.

In a sarcastic remark, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in state assembly Ajay Singh said: "Our Chief Minister claims that Madhya Pradesh is ahead of even America, but when it comes to women empowerment the claim stands exposed in the state capital."

In a statement, state Secretary of the Communist Party of India Badal Saroj said: "When the Chief Minister and ministers were busy watching a mega event that involved investment in crores, the daughter of a police couple was raped between two police station areas in the state capital and it took her two days to lodge a complaint. It's shameful."