Kolhapur sex scandal: RR cracks down on top cops
Under fire over the alleged sexual harassment of woman trainee constables in Kolhapur, Maharashtra government on Friday announced transfer of district superintendent of police Yashasvi Yadav and suspension of two senior police officers.
Home Minister RR Patil has transferred superintendent of police (SP) of Kolhapur, Yashaswi Yadav, for being unable to keep an eye on officers involved in the sex scandal in which some women police constables have accused their seniors of rape.
Deputy superintendent of police (home) Vijay Parkale and inspector Dnyaneshwar Mundhe have been suspended.
“We have received the interim report by additional superintendent of police, Nashik, Maithili Jha and have acted on it.
The case will be passed on to Pune police chief Meeran Borwankar. The charge sheet will be filed after that and a report will be out in the next 10 days,” Patil said on Friday.
Police constable Yuvraj Kamble, the main accused in the case, charged with raping a woman trainee police constable, has already been arrested and suspended.
Kamble, who was training new recruits, had allegedly invited one of the women constables to his house and promised to give her the question paper of the exam to be held the next morning. When she went to his house, he allegedly raped her.
The scandal came to light when a routine medical test of the women police recruits revealed that two of them were pregnant.
“Tests were performed on 71 girls and one of the two found pregnant was unmarried,” Patil said.
Following this, Kamble was arrested. The woman constable, who was found pregnant, lodged a complaint with the Shahpuri police station of the Kolhapur police unit.
After that, at least 11 women constables – all fresh recruits – alleged that they, too, had been sexually exploited by police instructors when they were undergoing training at Kolhapur’s police training school.
The newly recruited female constables were put through a medical test as it had been decided to send them for training to the police academy in Nagpur.
The test is mandatory for constables before they are sent for such programmes.