Stressed, she attempted suicide on Monday. In her new life, she was left distressed on Tuesday after a 17-hour ordeal at a police station.
In gross violation of law and human rights, the men in khaki — comprising some women constables — took former associate professor of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) to Women’s police station around 11.30pm on Monday and kept her there till 4.35pm on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday morning, the woman had attempted suicide and undergone a surgery on her left wrist.
According to her, the officers misguided her by saying that they were taking her to the chief minister because he had wished to meet her. However, she was never taken to 1 Aney Marg but to Women’s police station on Bailey Road. “Four male police officers, along with some women officers, barged into my quarters on the IGIMS campus. They told me that the chief minister was willing to meet me. But they kept me at the Women’s police station till 4.35pm on Tuesday and that too after getting a lower court order to let me go. From 12 noon to 3pm on Tuesday, my advocates kept trying to convince the police officers but they did not pay heed to our request. Failed, my advocate filed an illegal detention case in the lower court and I was finally allowed to go home. According to law, the police cannot take a woman to a police station in night. I have no faith in police anymore,” she told The Telegraph.
However, the police had a different logic. “The woman was living alone in the quarters. We felt that she could again attempt suicide, so we took her to the police station around 11.30pm on Monday,” said city superintendent of police Jayant Kant. Even his seniors supported it. “How could we leave her to die? We did not arrest her but only kept her at the police station,” justified senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj.
Maharaj though did not have an answer why she was not taken to a psychologist or a rehab home if she was having a suicidal tendency. Clinical psychologist Binda Singh said: “A police station cannot provide a friendly environment to a person at all, especially who had attempted suicide. This will only make them more irritated and further motivate them to end their lives.”
Even legal experts felt the law-keepers had over-reacted. Dinesh Kumar, a Patna High Court lawyer, said Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) states that no boy below 15 years of age and woman (of any age) can be taken or asked to come to the police station to record their statement as witness. Instead, the police officer has to visit the house.
“Also no woman can be arrested between sunset and sunrise except in exceptional circumstances. In that case, prior permission of a first-class judicial magistrate must be obtained,” he said, adding that the police did not act anything legal on Monday night.
LEGAL guard
The Section 46, sub-section (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005, states:
...No woman shall be arrested after sunset and before sunrise, and where such exceptional circumstances exist, the woman police officer shall obtain the prior permission of the judicial magistrate of first class
Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
has charted out a police officer’s power to require attendance of witnesses:
...No male person under the age of 15 years or woman shall be required to attend at any place other than the place in which he or she resides