DG&IGP has no control over his men, says Brinda

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Monday said the senior most police officer in the Karnataka state had no control over his staff.

Speaking to mediapersons after a delegation led by her met the Director General and Inspector General of Police, Lalrokhuma Pachau here demanding justice for Swar Thounaojam, the Manipuri playwright who was allegedly molested by a mob and assaulted by a policeman on DVG Road on December 5.

She noted that the DG&IGP was helpless, as the letter he had written to the City Police Commissioner detailing the incident is yet to be acted upon.

“Pachau had written to the Commissioner on December 7. And today it is December 10 and there has been no action so far,” she said.

Calling the incident “appalling and outrageous,” Karat accused the constable of having connived with the mob when the incident took place. “...A group of men led by a police constable brutalises a woman in the City and nothing happens,” she said.

Thounaojam too expressed her unhappiness over the pace at which the police are working on the case. She also noted that the police had failed to record her statement immediately after the incident had occurred.

Karat also said that the police in Bangalore “seem tobe keen on trivialising the issue,” adding that racist overtones in the attack on the Manipuri woman could not be ruled out. “This masochistic and misogynist attack also bears the marks of racism,” she said.
Reacting to this, Pachau said that allegations could be levelled against anybody, but that they had to be probed into.

“The probe cannot be one sided. Thounaojam has filed a criminal case. Video footage at the traffic junction where the incident took place would be looked into,” he added.

Further, he also challenged the victim’s claim that her statement was not recorded by the police. He also denied that there was a larger law and order problem in the State, with regard to women.