Cop probing sexual harassment case demands sex from 20-yr-old victim; arrested

Gaya SSP Harpreet Kaur said the police officer was arrested after an initial probe by the head of a women police station supported the complainant’s allegations.

PATNA: A police officer in Bihar’s Gaya district was arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday after an initial probe supported a 20-year-old woman’s complaint that he was allegedly demanding sexual favours from her.

The Bihar police officer arrested in Gaya district was due to retire in about two years. (Getty Images/Vetta)

Sub inspector Sudhir Kumar was assigned to investigate the young woman’s complaint in 2021 in which she accused five men of sexual harassment on the pretext of giving her a job, said Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harpreet Kaur.

Kaur said the victim recently approached her and complained that the officer assigned to her case was allegedy demanding sexual favours too. Kaur asked Ravi Ranjana, the station house officer of the Women police station, to record her statement and probe the matter.

She said In preliminary probe, her complaint was found to be correct and the sub-inspector was arrested.

A senior police officer said seeking and accepting sexual favours can be considered a bribe under the new anti-corruption law. If convicted, the accused can be sentenced to seven years jail.

The arrest was made after the sub inspector allegedly sent her a porn video on her mobile phone and pressurised her to meet him at a hotel.

Police said the arrested officer was due to retire in 2024. His wife is a high school teacher and one of his three sons is a chartered accountant. The other two are doing their engineering and medicine.

In June 2018, a Patna Town DSP was suspended for allegedly seeking sexual favours from a girl after an audio clip emerged in which he was allegedly asking the girl to make her happy. In October 2018, another police officer, a sergeant major posted with the government railway police (GRP), Muzaffarpur, was suspended on the charges for allegedly seeking sex to help a widow get appointed on compassionate grounds.