Bulandshahr:
"It was a misunderstanding", is the rather incredulous explanation offered by cops for why a 10-year-old alleged rape survivor was held inside police lockup for over 10 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr.
The incident, that has sparked shock and outrage, happened inside a women's police station on Sunday night when the girl's distraught mother told the cops that a 24-year-old local villager had sexually assaulted her child. Instead of taking action, the women cops allegedly abused the mother and forced her to leave, putting the little girl behind bars for the entire night. Video footage of the incident filmed and circulated by a local journalist later resulted in the release of the girl on Monday.
"Our officers were busy with a crime meeting that day...the constables who came in at the 8 pm shift didn't know details of the case...it was a misunderstanding," said Bulandshahr Deputy Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna, suggesting that the absence of senior police officers at the time led to the situation.
Even as a visibly embarrassed police struggle to justify the incident, it has also now emerged that the girl was allegedly beaten up in the lock-up and also blamed for the alleged rape.
The woman police officer in charge of the station, Mrs Gayashree Chauhan, has been transferred along with another female sub-inspector. She had allegedly denied that the child had been locked up, despite the fact that there was video evidence. Two constables were also suspended.
The man accused of raping the child has been arrested.
The preliminary medical report of the girl does not show any external injury, according to the police. A final medical report is now awaited.