Constable held for raping woman inside Jharkhand police station five suspended

    Seraikela (Jharkhand), Oct 31 (PTI) A constable was arrested after a woman accused him of raping her inside a police station in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharswan district, where she had gone to lodge a complaint, the police said on Saturday.

    Five policemen, including the officer-in-charge of Gamharia police station, were also suspended for dereliction of duty following the incident that took place

on the night of October 29.

    In her complaint, the victim had told the police that she had an altercation with her husband on Thursday evening and left home, apprehending that he would beat her up.

    She went to a neighbour's house and contacted the police using her mobile phone. A PCR van arrived at the house and brought her to the police station that night, the police said in a statement.

    The officers on duty provided her with a room in the police station to rest. While she was in the room, the accused, a wireless operator at the police station, raped her, the statement said.

    Superintendent of Police Manoj Swargiary directed Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Seraikela) Anubhav Bhardwaj to conduct an investigation into the matter.

    Based on the SDPO's report, the police arrested the accused, and a court remanded him to judicial custody.

    The SP also suspended the officer-in-charge of Gamharia police station and four other staff on charges of dereliction of duty, irresponsible conduct and indiscipline.

    The authorities also closed the five to police lines, the statement said.

    The police have seized the clothes the accused was wearing at the time of the incident, and the process to send them to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Ranchi for examination was underway.

    Responding to the case, the opposition BJP claimed that such incidents have become common in the state as the police administration is not afraid of anyone.

    BJP Jharkhand president Aditya Sahu alleged that police officers secure postings by paying money to their higher-ups.

    Those police officers facilitate the theft of sand, iron ore and coal under the patronage of those at the helm of affairs, the Rajya Sabha MP alleged while talking to reporters.

    This was the reason that people have lost faith in the ruling coalition comprising the JMM, Congress and the RJD, he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)