Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police HC Awasthi.
Hours after two constables were dismissed for allegedly gang-raping a 14-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, Additional Director General of Police HC Awasthi revealed the identity and residential address of the girl while talking to the media.
Under a Supreme Court directive, identity of rape survivors are to be kept secret in view of possible social ostracism and other risks. Mr Awasthi, however, said he had done nothing wrong.
The senior police officer was on a visit to the Musajhag police station, to which the constables were attached and was interacting with the media after an hour-long meeting with the girl's family.
A medical examination has confirmed sexual assault. A manhunt is on for the two constables, who are on the run. The state's Special Task Force have been directed to track down the two men.
The Station House Officer of Musajhag police station has also been suspended following Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's call for strict action.
The girl's family alleged the constables saw her when she left her house to use the toilet on Wednesday night, dragged her to their quarters near the police station and raped her. "Around midnight, she came back and told us about the incident," said the teenager's mother.
The two constables -- Veer Pal Singh Yadav and Avnish Yadav - did not have any criminal record. But they had been penalised for dereliction of duty in the past, news agency Press Trust of India quoted Mr Awasthi as saying.
Badaun had hit the headlines after two girls, who were cousins, were found hanging from a tree a year ago. The police had said that the girls were raped and hanged, but the CBI filed a report last month that said all evidence pointed to suicide.