The cops don’t care

Bangalore: People turn to the police with the expectation that it will come to their rescue in times of distress. But of late the city police has been less than helpful, refusing to accept genuine
complaints or remaining mute bystanders to harassment of the innocent.

A 24-year-old businessman had firsthand experience of police apathy Tuesday night when  robbed of his mobile phone at knifepoint by four armed men in the heart of Jayanagar, he rushed to it for help. To his surprise, the police not only  delayed filing the FIR, but also reportedly tried to persuade him to say he had lost his phone and not had it stolen at knifepoint.

Weeks before, on December 19, two young girls were slapped and kicked in their stomachs, and molested in public in front of the Adugodi traffic police station at around 11.30 am even as the cops on duty watched silently. It was later revealed that the boys  assaulting them were sons of two lower rung policemen and hence the reluctance of the police to act or register a case against them. 

It took a phonecall from the father of one of the girls to Joint Commissioner of Police (East) B.K. Singh for the Adugodi police to even register the complaint. And following the outrage in the media, the city police commissioner suspended two of the policemen,  including an ASI who had silently watched the girls being assaulted.

A couple of months previously in October, B.Com student, Prakriti Sharma, was harassed and teased by four men at the MG Road Metro Rail station while the security staff looked on mutely. Prakriti then approached the Ulsoor police, only to be turned away there as well. But when she persisted, the Ulsoor police did relent. However, for 10 days afterwards nothing more was done until media reports of the incident  incited strong public reaction, causing the police to institute  an inquiry.

Condemning police officials who avoid filing FIRs and delay taking immediate action, former city police commissioner, Shankar Bidari recalls that when such cases were brought to his notice, he had ordered  suspension of the erring police officers.

“It is the responsibility of the top cops of the city and the state to enforce people-friendly measures within the police department. An officer who doesn’t do his duty should be suspended at once and a strict investigation order into the matter,” he says.

Sources say some cops try to dilute the nature of the offence so that they don’t have to bring it to the notice of senior police officials, and earn their wrath for allowing serious crime to go unchecked in their jurisdictions.
But law experts say the police cannot refuse to file FIRs as the criminal civil procedure code clearly lays down that  it must do so on receiving a complaint. They also note that a Supreme Court ruling in November has made it mandatory for the police to register FIRs in response to complaints, which makes such behaviour from the men in khaki even more unacceptable.

Next: ‘FIR is a must for complaints’

‘FIR is a must for complaints’

Ask additional commissioner of police (law and order) Kamal Pant about the many complaints about police refusing to register complaints in the city and he says they cannot turn away people who come to them.

“The policemen must register an FIR once  someone comes to a police station with a complaint. Officials from the rank of head constable upwards are competent enough to register a police case. But there could be some technical flaws in policing as well. We need to work on minimising and rectifying them as and when they occur. There are good and bad days for the police,” he maintains.

Some senior police officials admit that at times lower rank officers do not realise the gravity of a complaint or fail to understand the mental agony or physical trauma suffered by the victim of a crime. “Sometimes, however, the cops simply refuse to take complainants for reasons best known to them,” they acknowledge.

When a victim is not able to write his or her own complaint owing to a language barrier, some police can take advantage and tailor the case to suit their convenience and weaken it, they reveal.

Also lower rank officials sometimes flatly refuse to register complaints in the absence of senior officials at the police station, asking the victims to come back another day when they are around, say sources, adding that all of this is uncalled for and works against the very people the men in khaki are supposed to protect from crime and criminals.