E-Paper
Ludhiana cop suspended for slapping woman in public
Had allegedly slapped the woman from Ludhiana’s Kot Mangal after she misbehaved with him; woman, aides, also face assault charges
Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu on Monday suspended assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and Marado police post in-charge Ashwani Kumar, who has been facing an inquiry for assaulting a woman resident.
The ASI, who had allegedly slapped the woman, a resident of Kot Mangal, in public late on the night of May 23, has been sent to police lines with immediate effect.
A first information report (FIR) registered against the woman and her acquaintances for assaulting police personnel, however, will stand.
Sharing details about the same, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Ashok Kumar said an inquiry had been marked in the case by senior officers after the woman’s kin filed a complaint alleging the police personnel had slapped her and arrested her in the absence of female police personnel.
After investigating the matter, additional deputy commissioner of police (City 2) Suhail Qasim Mir submitted his report to senior officers, following which the commissioner of police suspended the accused cop.
The ACP added that officials have scanned videos of the incident recorded by the onlookers, wherein the ASI can be seen purportedly slapping the woman. The woman and her acquaintance also misbehaved with police officials and assaulted them, but a police personnel in uniform is not allowed to physically hit a woman in any situation, he added.
Elaborating on the incident, the ACP said the cop in question and the other police personnel were returning after conducting a raid when he stopped on the way to see the woman arguing with some men on May 23. When the ASI intervened, the woman misbehaved with him and assaulted him. “The ASI was short of staff and failed to tackle the situation. However, later he called on force from the police station and arrested the woman and her aides,” he added.
Employees at the restaurant where the incident took place also accused police officials of assaulting them.
A case under sections 353, 186 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had been registered against the woman and three others at the Sadar Police station.