Woman cop who alleged rape by ACPs was suspended for ‘insubordination’

A woman constable's decision to approach the Maharashtra Director-General of Police (DGP) after her complaint of rape and sexual harassment by senior officers allegedly went unheeded, has been termed 'insubordination' by the Aurangabad police commissioner.

The 23-year-old suspended constable from Aurangabad had attempted suicide outside Vidhan Bhavan on February 27. She was suspended in January.

Aurangabad police commissioner Sanjay Kumar justified the suspension stating that she approached the DGP with her complaint without following proper channels. "She went to the DG's office directly without permission," said Kumar. "She also came to the commissionerate in January and threw a slipper at one of the ACPs. She appeared before a political press conference in Pune. We suspended her in January following this insubordination."

The DGP could not be reached for comment.

The constable consumed pesticide outside Vidhan Bhavan after she was refused audience by the office of state Home Minister R R Patil. She alleged that she was raped several times by two Assistant Commissioners of Police in Aurangabad in 2011 and molestated by a third ACP in 2012. She came to the city last week to meet Patil and to request him to reinstate her. She was discharged from Bombay Hospital on Monday.

The constable claimed that she was suspended for allegedly speaking out against senior police officials. She filed a case before a magistrate in Aurangabad in August last year. "The next hearing is on March 16. Since I am under suspension, I cannot work anywhere else," she said.

On Monday evening, she was accompanied by her mother and cousin as she returned home to her six-year-old daughter. "My mother told her that I had an accident and was admitted to a hospital," she said.

According to her complaint, ACP Sandeep Bhajibhakare, who who was in charge of the Begumpur police station, allegedly raped her in his chambers in September 2011. "On October 1, Bhajibhakare drove me to a dark road near Zalta Phata in Satara parisar and raped me in his car and threatened me. I sent a letter to the DGP but received no reply," she said.

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