Cop 'Hugs' Woman During Passport Verification, Faces Probe

A journalist has alleged that a police officer, who came to her house for passport renewal verification, patted her on the thigh and forcefully hugged her. The incident took place at the woman's house in Vasundhara township in Ghaziabad on July 12.

Police action

The journalist -- in her mid-20s -- took to Twitter to narrate the incident. She described his behaviour as “pathetically uncomfortable”.

She said that at one point, he told her, “I have done your work. Now what will you give me?” reported TOI.

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The trainee sub-inspector, Devender Singh, from the UP police was suspended soon after the Twiteratti lashed out at the UP Police. According to the UP Police, the DGP has also ordered an inquiry.

Ghaziabad police chief Vaibhav Krishna has directed Indirapuram circle officer Ravi Kumar to lead the investigations. Krishna has also advised the journalist to file a complaint at the police station. She will lodge the complaint soon.

What happened?

The woman who works for a national daily, alleged that Singh visited her house around Thursday noon. He initially asked her questions like her place of birth, number of family members and others which are considered to be a part of the passport verification procedure.

But soon, the conversation's focus started to shift.

“When I stated that my native address is Guwahati, he said he was posted there a while ago. Using the Guwahati link, he gave a pat on my thigh, saying “oh we are friends”, despite the fact that I was sitting at a reasonable distance from him. His uninvited touch made me extremely uncomfortable and alarmed and so I got up and went to the kitchen and urged my helper to stay back till the time he left. I could not ask the policeman to leave as I did not have a copy of the house tax document and the exact address of my Guwahati residence, which I was taking on the phone from my father,” she added.

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She said that he soon said that the verification was over and as for the property tax receipt, she could submit a copy of it later.

She revealed, “As he was about to leave, he asked me what I could give him in return. He said we could be friends now and sought a hug from me. I told him it was not possible. Seeing my resistance, he extended his hand for a handshake and as soon as I raised my hand, he pulled me towards him and forcefully hugged me. I was choking in fear by then and all I wanted was for him to leave the house. He kept talking about being in touch and I simply said that I will give the tax receipt when I get it.”

If the allegations are proven, strict action will be taken against Singh, said Krishna.

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Kriti Dwivedi is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv