Odisha cop thrashes youth viral video case: Rights panel orders cop’s salary deduction to compensate victim

Odisha human rights panel has asked for a report on the incident in four weeks.

A day after the video of an Odisha cop thrashing a youth inside the police station went viral, Odisha Human Rights Commission directed a deduction of Rs 10,000 from the salary of the cop to be paid as interim compensation to the youth. The commission also asked the district superintendent of police to submit a detailed report within four weeks.

Sandhyarani Jena, the inspector at Patana police station in Keonjhar district. (Twitter/@DGPOdisha))

On March 25, the youth named Raju Mahanta of Talasarua village was thrashed and kicked by Sandhyarani Jena, inspector of Patana police station in Keonjhar district. Mahanta had a land dispute with his paternal uncle and had lodged a complaint at the Patana Police Station in this connection on March 25. However, the woman inspector called him to the police station where she assaulted him.

The video of the incident had gone viral in social media following which Keonjhar SP Mitrabhanu Mahapatra directed Ghatgaon sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) to probe the matter. He also tweeted to say that the custodial torture will not be tolerated.

Taking a strong exception to physical torture of a youth by a police officer inside a police station in Keonjhar district, Odisha Human Rights Commission said the DGP who controls a 70,000-strong police force in Odisha, should not let the incident happen again.