Purushottam Sharma, the director general (DG) rank officer with Madhya Pradesh police, has been suspended by the state government after finding him “prima facie guilty of domestic violence, moral turpitude and misconduct”.
Sharma had been relieved from his post as in-charge of the directorate of public prosecution on Monday after a video showing him hitting his wife and pinning her down at his home, went viral on social media.
The Madhya Pradesh home department had served Sharma with a notice to explain his conduct by Tuesday evening. Sources said that in his reply to the notice, Sharma said that the matter was not that of harassment of a woman but of harassment of a man. He said that his wife has been harassing him, had attacked their daughter and constantly breached his privacy.
However, the state government found his response ‘unsatisfactory and inadequate’. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted from his official handle to convey immediate suspension of Sharma. The CM said that during the suspension period, Sharma will be attached to the police headquarters.
Meanwhile, taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the MP State Women’s Commission has served a notice to Sharma, asking him to present himself at the commission office before or on October 5. Chairperson of the commission, Shobha Oza, has said that action will be recommended after hearing from the suspended officer.
The matter boiled over late on Sunday evening when the video of Sharma assaulting his wife Priya went viral after, apparently, their son, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, sent it to CM Chouhan and Home Minister Narottam Mishra for action.
Another video, where Sharma’s wife is seen confronting him at the residence of a woman and accusing him of illicit relations with her also went viral. The video of Sharma hitting his wife was apparently shot after she reached home, having confronted him earlier at the woman’s house.
The incident attracted nationwide condemnation and even the National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma tagged a tweet in this regard to Chouhan. Sharma was removed from his post after this.
Talking to the media, Sharma had insisted that it was a domestic matter and he was having a dispute with his wife for the past 12 years. Their relations deteriorated in the past one month and he had left home. He also said that his wife constantly interfered with his routine, breached his privacy and harassed him.
Sharma had also asked why she was living with him and enjoying all the facilities if she had such a problem with him.
Meanwhile, on Monday night, the woman at whose residence one of the viral videos was shot, lodged a complaint with the Bhopal police accusing Sharma’s wife of tarnishing her reputation. She said that her relation with the officer was misrepresented in the video, when he was like a father to her.
Also, in another development, the daughter of the Sharma couple wrote to the chief minister alleging that her mother was unstable and had tried to set their home on fire and take her own life, too. In the letter, she supported her father.
However, Sharma’s wife is yet to officially register a police complaint against her husband despite Bhopal police urging her to do so. She or her son have also refused to interact with the media.
