Christ students accuse woman cop of moral policing

Students of Christ (Deemed to be University) have accused a woman cop of moral policing.

The officer, an assistant sub-inspector at the Suddaguntepalaya police station, allegedly harassed students mingling with the opposite sex. She recently thrashed a few women students for playing Holi in skimpy clothes. She refused to accept the girls’ explanation that they cannot play Holi in good clothes.

Outraged students took to social media, listing the harassment and police brutality, especially by officers posted at the Suddagentepalya police station.

Amogh Rayanker, a first-year journalism student, narrated to DH an incident that he faced while waiting for a bus to BTM Layout with a female friend who was headed in the same direction.

“This woman cop stopped her patrol car and asked what we were doing,” Rayanker said. “When I told her we were waiting for the bus, she said it was not the bus stop. I pointed to the (heavy) traffic and said the bus would stop there for us and that the bus stop was too far.”

The cop said Rayanker masterminded the meeting with the girl. Stunned by the allegation, the student recorded audio of the incident. But the cop snatched the phone, allowed his female friend to go and bundled Rayanker into the police car.

At the police station, officers threatened to slap a petty case on Rayanker. “They asked me to remove my clothes and made me sit on the floor like a criminal,” he said.

The cops rejected Rayanker’s requests to speak to his father and instead asked him to send for his friends with the fine.

“The humiliation continued from 4.30 pm to 6 pm, though I apologised several times,” he said.

When he informed his family of the incident, Rayanker’s father was prepared to meet the police inspector on the issue, but the college insisted that he should not do so.

Rayanker tweeted about the incident tagging the Bengaluru city police, opening a flurry of similar complaints from college mates.

Some students posted video evidence showing police brutality. A post by female students at the Axita Hostel in Suddaguntepalya claimed that the woman cop abused them and threatened to slam them in jail.

She ordered her subordinates to cane the students playing Holi on the road. “There is this lady cop who suddenly came around and hit a friend of mine with a stick. The girl was just going back to her hostel with a friend of her. The girl still kept calm for she was aware of this police woman’s bad temper, but then this policewoman started to beat the other girl brutally who in her self defence, took a step back. In all some colour spilled onto the shirt of this lady cop and she beat this girl even more (sic),” the post read.

A student reported a shopkeeper at the Christ back gate who uses a catapult to shoot grains at the girls. One of the girls caught him red-handed and reported the matter to the same policewoman. The shopkeeper got off, saying he shot grains because he did not want girls with short clothes around his shop.

“A friend of mine was being pelted with stones by this one shop near the back gate and when she called the cops, this lady cop created a scene saying that it was her fault for provoking men and that she should wear more appropriate clothing,” read another post.

Isha Pant, DCP, Southeast, assured this reporter that she would probe all the incidents and take action against the cop if she was found guilty. “Regarding the Holi incident, locals complained about some students causing a nuisance. Our men rushed to the spot to clear them,” Pant said. “The inquiry will reveal any high-handedness by our officers.”