What the cops in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh can do, we in Bihar can do better. That seemed to have been the watchword of a bunch of highhanded policemen in capital Patna on June 7.
The disturbing details from the Times of India: [Link]
On Friday, sub-inspector Anita Gupta was suspended for harassing couples at the Shahid Peer Ali Khan Children's Park, located in front of the Patna DM's official residence. Senior SP, Patna, R Mallar Vizhi, said: "We have ordered an inquiry. Actually, we had launched a campaign against eve-teasers."
According to eyewitnesses, women constables entered the crowded park and caught hold of a romancing couple. The girl was slapped several times. There were other amorous couples, too. The girls were made to do sit-ups. Their boyfriends were beaten up and also made to do sit-ups. Onlookers were mute spectators.
Some lauded the police action as romancing coupled were "spoiling" the culture of the city, they felt. But those who protested, were abused by the police. At least three women police personnel were involved in the moral-policing act on Friday.
The police high-handedness has infuriated women's activists in the city. "If they found the acts of the couples objectionable, the police should have taken the lovers to the police station and counselled them. Their parents could have been summoned. But there is no justification in publicly humiliating them," said Sharad Kumar of Bihar Mahila Samaj. "The police should be more active in curbing crime and corruption and not romance," said Sharad.
Meena Tiwari, national general secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), asked, "On what grounds were the boys and girls beaten up?" State president of AIPWA, Saroj Choubey, recalled how a girl assaulted by Ram Sene activists in Mangalore had committed suicide. "Moral policing should start with films, television and the Internet. How can they presume that youngsters will not be influenced by these media?"
