The Puri police formed a three-member team to probe the alleged molestation case (File)
Bhubaneswar:
A police team today met a medical student, who had accused policemen of molesting women devotees during the 'Sandhya Darshan' of Lord Jagannath at Gundichha Temple on Sunday. The student, who is reportedly one of the victims of the molestation incident claimed that a policeman allegedly molested her while she was visiting the temple with her family members. She even claimed to have slapped him in protest.
A case was registered with the Kumbharpada police station in Puri last night on a direction from the Odisha police headquarters.
"Based on a Facebook post and reports in the electronic and print media on the alleged molestation of a medical student in Puri during darshan of Lord Jagannath, I have directed Dr Sarthak Sarangi, IPS, SP Puri to register an FIR with the Kumbahrpada police station under appropriate sections and get it investigated immediately under his supervision," Senior policeman KB Singh said in an office order.
Though the Puri police had initially said the probe into the allegation would begin after the rituals of Lord Jagannath 'darshan' were completed, but Mr Singh has ordered immediate investigation.
"I hope the investigation will reach the final stage by tomorrow. We'll install more CCTV cameras at crowded places to avoid such incidents in future," Mr Singh told reporters.
The Puri police have formed a three-member team to investigate the alleged molestation case. The team led by Kumbharpada police station in-charge have met the woman at the medical college in Bhubaneswar, where she is pursuing her MBBS degree course. Her statement was recorded under section 161 of CrPC, the police said.
In a post on social media, the woman student wrote, "Just returning from Puri. I am very very disheartened seeing the scenario there. I didn't want to create a mess there, but I just couldn't control myself. There were some policemen, touching the private areas of the girls," she said in a Facebook post. She went on to write that she lost her patience and slapped a policeman, after which she lodged a complaint with Superintendent of Police.
A case was registered with the Kumbharpada police station in Puri last night on a direction from the Odisha police headquarters.
"Based on a Facebook post and reports in the electronic and print media on the alleged molestation of a medical student in Puri during darshan of Lord Jagannath, I have directed Dr Sarthak Sarangi, IPS, SP Puri to register an FIR with the Kumbahrpada police station under appropriate sections and get it investigated immediately under his supervision," Senior policeman KB Singh said in an office order.
Though the Puri police had initially said the probe into the allegation would begin after the rituals of Lord Jagannath 'darshan' were completed, but Mr Singh has ordered immediate investigation.
"I hope the investigation will reach the final stage by tomorrow. We'll install more CCTV cameras at crowded places to avoid such incidents in future," Mr Singh told reporters.
The Puri police have formed a three-member team to investigate the alleged molestation case. The team led by Kumbharpada police station in-charge have met the woman at the medical college in Bhubaneswar, where she is pursuing her MBBS degree course. Her statement was recorded under section 161 of CrPC, the police said.
In a post on social media, the woman student wrote, "Just returning from Puri. I am very very disheartened seeing the scenario there. I didn't want to create a mess there, but I just couldn't control myself. There were some policemen, touching the private areas of the girls," she said in a Facebook post. She went on to write that she lost her patience and slapped a policeman, after which she lodged a complaint with Superintendent of Police.
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