Police register FIR against two ASI involved in torture of Christian woman

Police register FIR against two ASI involved in torture of Christian woman
Gurdaspur: The Gurdaspur Police has registered an FIR against the two ASIs Ashwani Sharma and Mangal Singh allegedly involved in torturing a woman maid following a theft complaint filed with the police by a woman judge.

The judge had claimed the maid had decamped with gold ornaments and Rs 20,000 in cash from her official residence in her absence.

Sources say what followed was “sheer mayhem” as the SHO of the City police station Gurmeet Singh and the two ASIs reportedly took the maid to the SHO’s residential quarters, located within the precincts of the City Police station, where she was allegedly given third-degree torture. This, however, was vehemently denied by the police.

The FIR has been registered against the ASIs under section 330 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 348 (wrongful confinement of a person for the purpose of extorting a confession or information) IPC at the City police station. This development was confirmed by City SHO Inspector Karishma.

The name of SHO Gurmeet Singh, one of the officers involved in the torture) does not figure in the FIR.The Medico-Legal Report (MLR) had also confirmed that Mamta had sustained twelve injuries.

She had also complained that electric shocks were given to her.Several farm and Christian unions and the Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR) had started protests at the Gurdaspur civil hospital where the maid, Mamta, was sent for treatment.

The unions had given an ultimatum that they would be forced to intensify their agitation if the police did not register criminal cases against the erring police officers by July 25.

Taking cognizance of the incident after it appeared in a section of the media, DGP Gaurav Yadav had asked SSP Harsh Dayama to shift the erring police officials to the police lines. Later, they were placed under suspension and subsequently were transferred out of Gurdaspur police district.

In the meanwhile, an SP rank officer, Jaswant Kaur, was asked to hold a departmental inquiry. The probe is still going on.

The incident had become the talk of the town with a section of residents claiming that the cops had gone overboard in torturing the maid. Although no officer is willing to speak on record, clandestinely senior officers admit that their junior officials did in fact stretch things beyond limits while questioning the maid.

In the midst of all this, SHO Gurmeet Singh was allegedly threatened by a known criminal of the area, Romi, for having “meted out injustice to the Christian maid.” Incidentally, Romi, too, belongs to the Christian community.

The SHO has filed a complaint against Romi and a case registered against Romi in PS City Gurdaspur.