2 Rajasthan Cops Molest Tribal Woman, One Suspended: Police

A police constable was suspended after a tribal woman accused him of molesting and harassing her in Rajasthan's Udaipur district, police said.

Constable Jitendra and Assistant Sub-Inspector Rajkumar of Panarwa police station had allegedly taken the woman, her parents and another man to Gujarat in a private vehicle on Friday in connection with a probe over the missing of a girl, they said.

Police suspected that the woman knew about the whereabouts of the girl who has been missing for about four years.

Jitendra and Rajkumar took the woman, along with others, to Gujarat without a lady constable on Friday, according to the complaint filed by the women with the police.

Before travelling to Gujarat, the woman and her parents were kept at a police post on Thursday night during which she was molested by Jitendra, it stated.

They returned on Saturday and informed local people about the matter, who went to the police station to register a case. However, the case could be registered only after the intervention of local MLA Babu Lal on Sunday evening.

"The constable has been suspended. Action was also taken against the SHO and the ASI (of Panarwa police station) for negligence and they were sent to police lines," Superintendent of Police, Udaipur, Manoj Chaudhary said.

A police officer confirmed that the woman was kept at the police post at night and she, along with her parents, was taken to Gujarat in connection with the missing complaint without a lady constable.

BJP MLA from Jhadol Babu Lal alleged that besides molesting the tribal woman, the accused constable also beat her and her father at the police post.

"The police did not register the case initially and I had to intervene to get it registered. They (woman and her parents) were taken (to Gujarat) in the private SUV of the constable and there was no lady constable with them. The woman was kept at the police chowky at night. Police have violated many rules," he said.