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Woman started scuffle with cop to let husband flee, say UP cops on viral video
Kanpur Rural district sub-inspector Mahendra Patel was transferred to the district's police lines and an inquiry ordered, a police statement said.
An inquiry has been ordered by the Uttar Pradesh police into a scuffle between a police officer and a woman in Kanpur, a statement by the Kanpur Rural Police said on Sunday but stressed that the officer, seen holding down a woman in widely-circulated photographs and a video clip, did not initiate the fight.
The statement, citing another video clip that has since emerged of the incident on Saturday, said the woman started the scuffle to enable her husband to flee and the officer fell on the woman while trying to stop her.
The officer, sub-inspector Mahendra Patel, has nevertheless been transferred to the district's police lines, the statement said.
Police said the incident took place when a team of police officers went to Durgadasspur village in Bhognipur locality, about 60 km from Kanpur city, where they found some people gambling. The team caught Shivam Yadav, who according to the police, allegedly threatened a candidate in the panchayat elections a few weeks earlier.
His family members attacked the police and managed to let Shivam Yadav run away from custody.
His wife, Arti, later cited a photograph and a truncated version of the video clip of the incident, to allege that the police officer dragged her to the ground, sat on top of her, and assaulted her.
Soon after, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted a photograph of the incident, to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party government and demanded action against the officer involved.
(After perusal of the complete video, this story has been corrected to show that the policeman and the woman fell down in a scuffle initiated by her and that he did not throw her to the ground.)
