Death of ‘rape survivor’: Station in-charge suspended; ‘had asked woman to die’

In a video, the woman alleged that the in-charge of Amaria police station, Braj Veer Singh, asked her to die when questioned about the progress in the case she had lodged against one of her neighbours.

A day after the death of an alleged rape survivor in Pilibhit on Thursday, a police station-in-charge in Pilibhit was placed under suspension on Friday for allegedly instigating the woman to commit suicide, said senior police officials, adding a departmental inquiry had been initiated against him.

(For representation)

In a video, the woman alleged that the in-charge of Amaria police station, Braj Veer Singh, asked her to die when questioned about the progress in the case she had lodged against one of her neighbours. She had accused the neighbour of raping her on the pretext of marriage.

Police officials admitted her to the Pilibhit district hospital after finding out that she had consumed poison on Wednesday. She was later referred to a higher medical facility in Bareilly where she died on Thursday.

Superintendent of police (SP) Avinash Pandey said Singh had suspended on the basis of a report submitted to him after an initial probe was carried out by circle officer Deepak Chaturvedi.

He said the allegations levelled against the police station in-charge, of negligence in the investigation of the alleged rape case, had been found to be true. He added another inquiry against the suspended police station in-charge was ordered to probe his working at the police station and strict action will be taken against him accordingly. He said sub-inspector Parmendra Kumar had been posted as the new in-charge of Amaria police station.

Another police official said the suspended police station in-charge allegedly took ₹10 lakh from the rape accused, adding the authenticity of the allegations would be further verified in the departmental enquiry.

Circle officer (CO)-Sadar Vidhi Bhushan Mishra had earlier stated that the case of alleged was lodged around 10 months ago. The rape accused and the woman were emotionally involved with each other for the past seven years, he had said. After the accused returned to India in January, he refused to marry the woman, but got married to another woman on October 20, he said.