Mangalore: Woman ASI alleges mental, sexual harassment by ACP

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, May 24: Through a complaint addressed to the city police commissioner dated Thursday May 23, Shreekala K T, working as assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) in the city (south) police station, has accused assistant police commissioner, T R Jagannath, of mentally and sexually harassing her.

“I have been working in police department since the last about 20 years. During the last 18 months, I have been discharging duties as assistant police inspector in the city (south) police station. I have two daughters, studying in 5th and third standard respectively, and my husband is in a foreign country,” the ASI said in the complaint, a copy of which is in possession with daijiworld.

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Shreekala has claimed that she has never shown any negligence towards her duties, but has accused assistant police commissioner, T R Jagannath, of harassing her during duty hours. She says she finds it difficult to discharge her duties and to run her family, because of this attitude of her superior.

“ACP Jagannath deliberately summons me to his room located upstairs, shows to me files with which I have no connection, abuses me with derogatory words, and sends me away rudely. He also refuses to grant me weekly off or sanctioned leave. When I seek casual leave for attending to family duties, the same is refused. Even when I fall sick and send all the necessary documents through the station house officer, he sends them back deliberately,” she says in the complaint.

The ASI said that she was suffering from high fever, and had provided necessary papers upon rejoining the duties on August 31, 2012, but the ACP in writing asked her as to why she should not avail of voluntary retirement from service.

“When I explained this problem to the police inspector, I was advised to vibe well with the ACP. None of the ASIs in the city are placed on night duty. But the ACP instructed the inspector to send me on night rounds alone, without any vehicle. I had to lock my children inside my home for attending to this duty,” she has explained. She also says she was bit by a street dog during the night rounds, and that she had obtained permission from the police commissioner to avail leave because of this incident.

She has further explained that the leave application from May 25 to 30 for visiting her native place, Kottayam in Kerala, sent by her to the ACP was cancelled by him. “As per the advice of the employees of his office, I approached him on the evening of May 21 to explain my personal problems, but he shouted at me with obscene words, and ordered me to go back,” she added.

She has requested the police commissioner to ensure that she is able to discharge her duties without mental or other kinds of harassment from the ACP, to get sanctioned leave when necessary, and to take action against the official for behaving in an indecent way against her. Copies of the complaint have also been marked to the state director general of police, home minister, health minister, Karnataka State Women’s Commission, Bangalore and Mangalore.

City commissioner of police, Manish Karbikar, has stated that the allegations made by Shreekala are being investigated by law and order department deputy commissioner of police, M Mutturaya. He noted that the complainant has not given specific details of sexual harassment which finds a mention in the subject of the letter.