TOI

On cam: Cops abuse, thrash girl for dating Muslim man

MEERUT: A shocking video that shows four cops on board an Uttar Pradesh police van beating and berating a young woman for “choosing a Muslim partner” emerged on Tuesday, forcing an embarassed brass to take quick action.“All four cops, including the lady constable and a home guard, have been placed under suspension and a departmental enquiry has been initiated against them,” said Prashant Kumar, additional director general (ADG) of police, Meerut zone. Those suspended have been identified as head constable Salek Chand, constable Neetu Singh, woman constable Priyanka and home guard Sainserpal.The woman in question had earlier been detained by the local police after VHP activists dragged her and the man she was with, both in their early twenties, to the Medical police station. Whenasked SP (city) Ranvijay Singh why the couple had been detained in the first place as there was no criminal charge against them, he said, "We will let them go only after we speak to the girl's parents and ascertain if she was under any kind of pressure in the relationship." The couple were freed after the girl's parents arrived.In the video clip, now viral, home guard Sainserpal, who is driving the van, can be seen filming the incident. The girl, initially grilled on her whereabouts, is later assaulted by constable Priyanka, sitting next to her in the van. Other cops can also be heard hurling abuses at the cowering woman. Sainserpal repeatedly asks her if she “wasn’t ashamed of dating a Muslim boy”. He then directs constable Priyanka to yank off the scarf covering the woman's face, which the cop immediately does.The incident itself occurred on Sunday when a mob of VHP activists, led by their Meerut region chief Manish Kumar, raided a rented accommodation in Jagriti Vihar where the couple were present. The men then created a ruckus and raised slogans against cops at the Medical police station for “ignoring cases of love jihad”. Media persons inside the police station were asked to click pictures of the couple and “expose” them. No charges were pressed against the right-wing men.The video, a copy of which is with TOI, was widely shared on social media with Twitterati accusing the police personnel of “behaving like VHP activists”. “This is shocking. Yogi’s police goons taunt and beat up a young girl inside a van merely because she was friendly with a Muslim boy. This is utter goonda raj of UP Police in the name of love jihad. These cops must be dismissed. The case must be taken up in the Supreme Court,” wrote Prashant Bhushan, noted activist and SC lawyer, on Twitter.