Delhi women are wary of policemen

Jun 21, 2010 - Saumya Bhatia(The Asian Age)

It is for not without reason that women in the capital are wary of cops. Recently, a woman alleged that she was told by cops to strip and have sex with her son at a police station in West Delhi. Then, an ex-top Haryana police official is allegedly facing accusations of molestation and intimidation by a woman lawyer of the state. What is it about a policeman that makes him unapproachable? We speak to few women who share harrowing experiences.
Mehak Chawal, who works with Data Quest shares, “I was sitting with a friend in his car waiting for someone. Two traffic cops came and started asking us what we were upto. When we told them that we are waiting for somebody, they started using foul language and said that we are allegedly doing shady stuff and they will inform our parents. When we protested they said that they could settle the matter for Rs 500. We told them we are not paying them as we are not doing anything wrong. They threatened to slap a case of misbehaving with cops against us. After almost 30 minutes of argument, we gave them Rs 300 and left.”
Jharna Singh, DU student shares an incident which happened in her previous PG. “It was late in the night and some girls were partying with guy friends. Yes, they made the mistake of making a noise, so the neighbours complained. Some policemen came and started questioning. The girls said sorry, but the interrogation dragged on for hours and they asked the girls why they had invited guys. They asked who those guys were, what do they do? What is their relationship with them? Everyone showed their ID cards, but they were not satisfied. When the landlord and girls had no problem of those guys being in the house, I don’t understand why they kept asking the same questions and insisted on taking them to the police station. Though the matter was resolved, they did hassle all the girls.”
Vartika Gupta, professional rues, “Once when I went to complain about an autowallah who had overcharged in India Gate, the cops started joking and making fun of me. I finally sat reluctantly in the auto and got dropped home as cops did nothing to help me.”
*Names have been changed on request

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