New Delhi: In a shocking display of brutality, police in Etawah district's Kailokhar village in Uttar Pradesh pulled an eight-year-old girl by her hair and repeatedly slapped her for allegedly stealing Rs 280.
The girl, Komal, cried and pleaded for mercy but the cops pulled her up by her hair, twisted her ears and rained blows on her before the media persons. Interestingly, the police found no money with the girl, reports IANS.
The incident was caught on camera and telecast across TV channels, following which the Uttar Pradesh police dismissed one inspector and suspended two other cops.
As TV viewers all over the country watched the thin Dalit child dressed in bedraggled clothes being beaten up, the state police was forced into quick action.
Etawah's district police Chief K S Singh said, "We have already placed the Jaswantnagar SHO (station house officer) Chandrapal Singh under suspension. Another inspector involved in the incident has been dismissed."
State police chief Vikram Singh said he was personally "depressed" and sad about the incident and told reporters in Kanpu,
"On my behalf, the Etawah superintendent of police (SP) must visit the girl's family and apologise to them for the shameful act," he added
Komal's mother blamed the police of wrongly detaining and beating her.
She said she had given Komal Rs 15 to go to the market. But Komal returned home only late Monday with injury marks on her face and arms.
Giving his version of the events, SHO Chandrapal Singh said, "We were sitting in the police station when a young girl, aged 17 to 18, entered the police station with Komal."
The girl, Anju, alleged that Komal had slipped away with her purse that had been hanging on her cycle.
"We frisked both Komal and Anju but did not find the purse," he clarified, adding that Anju said in her complaint that the purse had been handed over to a boy who had escaped.
Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Brij Lal said that action will be taken against all the cops involved in the incident.
A criminal case, including sections of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Act, has been lodged against the two cops.
"Anju's allegations will also be probed. If found guilty, she will also face legal action," Brij Lal added.
Meanwhile,Child rights activists have condemned the police brutality on a eight year old girl in Uttar Pradesh' Etawah district and said that instances of police roughing up children are a regular feature, even in the capital.
"One police inspector was dismissed; two others involved in the incident were suspended. That's it? The incident must have left such a deep scar on the young girl - they (authorities) must think of her rehabilitation," National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Shanta Sinha, said.
Child rights activists have condemned the incident and decried the inefficacy of cops in dealing with juveniles.
"Hers is a fortunate case—it was caught on camera. This happens all the time, right here in the capital—what can we expect from cops in a village," National Secretary of Non Governmental Organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan Rakesh Senger said.
"Police do not operate in a child friendly manner and do not have any knowledge of laws," he said.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 even if a child (minor) has committed a crime, police cannot take any action against him or her.
Any decision can be taken only after the child is produced in court in consultation with a Juvenile Justice Board or Child Welfare Committee.
"Unfortunately, in our country those entrusted with the job to enforce such acts are the ones flouting them. Many of them do not even have knowledge of it, let alone execute it," Senger said.
Senger also said that in the country, 75 per cent of police stations still do not have the prescribed juvenile police.
According to Khoj Foundation Founder Pawan Sharma, there are deeper problems. "People forget child welfare... to my knowledge under the Juvenile Justice Act, cops are given training to deal with children—they forget. What needs to be done is that a dedicated task force must be available to deal with children and cops need to be sensitised," Sharma said.
http://www.igovernment.in/site/UP-po...ld-dalit-girl/
