Bangalore: Kodigehalli police inspector N Hanumantharaya has been suspended for sending to jail a minor girl who had been pushed into prostitution. Penalty for cop who sent rape victim to jail: Loss of just one increment
Police commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar, who passed the orders on Saturday, said the inspector be suspended immediately until further orders. DCP (north-east) T R Suresh, while confirming the suspension, said he was yet to receive a copy of the commissioner’s order.
Bangladeshi girl, Fathima (name changed) was arrested by Kodigehalli police on June 28 from a house, where she was forced to entertain clients. A gang had brought her to the city from Bangladesh. After a three-week jail stay, Fathima, a resident of Darul ul Salam Mohalla, Kulna, Sumandana Thana, Bannarghati Bayaar, Commissioner Mode, Bangladesh, has managed to obtain bail.
A pimp had paid her mother 20,000 saying he would get her work in a massage parlour. However, she, along with five other girls, was brought to the city. The whereabouts of the other girls are not known. Fathima was locked in a house in Sanjay Nagar and later sent to a house in Sahakarnagar. Based on a tip-off, an NGO rescued her in the presence of the police. But Hanumantharaya, instead of treating her as a victim, made her an accused in the case and jailed her.
A Supreme Court judgment, a directive from the Union ministry of home affairs and a circular issued by the state police chief make it clear that no case should be booked against a woman (victim) rescued from flesh trade. Under Section 8 (b) of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, such a woman should be considered a victim, and not an accused. Action should be taken against those who pushed her into prostitution and customers who exploited her.
