Human rights commission indicts UP police

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday indicted the Uttar Pradesh Police for harassing a couple, who married against the wishes of girl's parents, by foisting a case on the boy and sexually assaulting the girl in custody.

Castigating the police and issuing a show cause notice to the state government, the NHRC said it was a case of "wrongful detention, custodial rape, false implication and delay in initiating criminal proceedings against the accused sub inspector".

The government has been asked to show cause why the victim woman, her husband and father-in-law should not be recommended to be paid Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh respectively as monetary relief in the case.

According to the Commission, a young man and a girl from Balrampur district had eloped and married in Mumbai following which the girl's father lodged a kidnapping complaint. The couple were then called to Mathura police post, Balrampur district

"Instead of taking a proper legal recourse in the matter, both of them were detained in separate cells at the police post on August 12-13, 2014. The sub inspector  subjected the girl to sexual assault. When the girl complained about her sexual assault by the sub inspector, no prompt lawful action was taken in the matter," the NHRC said.

The police "continued to pursue the case of underage marriage" despite a city Court having held both of them of major age and allowed the girl to live with her husband as per her wish.

"Not only this, police, subsequently, charged her husband with rape by adding Section 376 in the main case file and also falsely implicated her father-in-law. She was also coerced to retract her allegations under pressure," the NHRC said.

It said the superintendent of police had failed to give NHRC a clear chain of incidents and action taken on another FIR registered by the girl, claiming sexual assault by a sub inspector.

The NHRC observed that this was an "extremely sordid case which has come before it" and that not only police officials had failed in conducting a  fair and correct investigation, they had also failed to appreciate the provisions of law, as far as, the applicability of Section 376 of IPC is concerned.