National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report about a police officer at Ganj police station of Rampur soliciting sexual favours from a rape victim for arresting the perpetrators roaming freely. When the victim refused to relent, the officer attached a final report thereby closing the case.
The Commission issued notices to Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar and DGP Sulkhan Singh asking the to submit reports within four weeks. After the media highlighted the issue, local officers in Rampur had said that the woman’s charges were found to be `baseless’ during probe.
A NHRC release issued on Wednesday, said, “The Commission observed that the contents of media report carried on June 22, 2017, were indeed shocking and if true, spoke volumes about the ills plaguing the law enforcement machinery and scant regard for people’s right to justice. This is a glaring instance of protector turning the predator.”
The woman (37) was reportedly raped by two men early this year and a case was registered after the court intervened hearing the woman’s petition.