National level karate champion beats up Haryana cop over sexual harassment

Chandigarh: A traffic police constable in Haryana has been arrested and suspended for allegedly sexually harassing a 21-year-old national-level woman karate player in a shared auto-rickshaw in Rohtak on Thursday.

In a complaint filed on Friday, the karate champion said she boarded an auto-rickshaw after her karate class to go home when the traffic constable, who was in uniform, boarded the same vehicle and sat next to her. He then asked for her mobile number and wanted to strike a friendship with her, the woman added.

The constable persisted since she refused to talk to him. But when the constable began touching her, she hit him in self defence before asking the auto-driver to take the vehicle to a women police station, she alleged.

The player also alleged that the senior woman police personnel at the police station persuaded her to not press charges and said that she would rebuke the constable.

But after the incident was brought to the notice of Rohtak's police superintendent Pankaj Nair, an FIR was immediately lodged and the woman police officer was transferred.

"A case under relevant provisions has been registered against the constable, Yaseen, for harassing the woman in the auto-rickshaw. He has been arrested and placed under suspension," senior police officer Ramesh Kumar told news agency PTI.

(With inputs from agencies)