Making a mockery of chief minister Nitish Kumar’s pledge for women empowerment and safety during the Bihar Divas celebrations, police on Tuesday expressed ignorance over alleged harassment of a martyr’s daughters in Sasaram a day after an FIR was lodged.

The widow of the Indian Army soldier had lodged the FIR at Sasaram police station in Rohtas district on Monday, seeking strict action against the four tormentors of her daughters, who are on the verge of giving up studies. Krishna Gupta alias Chhotu, Golu Kumar, Ravi Sen Gupta and Chandan Gupta alias Bullu — all neighbours of the girls — were named accused in the case lodged under sections 341, 504, 506, 354 and 34 of the IPC.

A day on, Sasaram police station house officer Ajay Kumar refused to acknowledge that any such case was lodged. “I have no idea about any such complaint,” he told The Telegraph, which is in possession of a photocopy of the FIR (No. 326). Sub-inspector Dinesh Kumar has been assigned to probe the case.

Rohtas superintendent of police Vikas Barman was not available for comments.

The complainant stays at Noorganj in Sasaram, around 165km from Patna, with her daughters — now Class VI and Class VII students of a renowned public school — after her husband died fighting on the India-Pakistan border in 1996. The tormented girls are on the brink of discontinuing their studies because of prolonged harassment on their way to school and coaching institutes. Unable to bear the teases, they gave up going to school in January.

Narrating the incident, the woman told the police that the youths — all residents of Noorganj — initially passed lewd comments at her daughters and played vulgar songs on cellphones when they (girls) used to go to the school or coaching institutes. “I complained to their parents, but to no avail,” she said.

She alleged that the accused, who belong to affluent families, took photographs of her daughters and threatened to pour acid on their faces. “Two of the accused — Chandan and Krishna — have been pressuring my daughters to marry them,” she stated in the written complaint.

She claimed that the situation came to such a pass that she asked her daughters to remain indoors. “But how long can I stop them from attending their classes? This will ultimately compel them to discontinue their studies for no fault of theirs,” she opined.

She alleged that her daughters’ teasers did not even spare her. “They hurled abuses at me and pelted stones at my house to frighten me,” she said, adding that she decided to change the SIM card of her cellphone to avoid frequent calls from the accused. The strategy was of little help, though. The widow said the youths somehow got her new number and started harassing her and her daughters over phone again.

“They (tormentors) have inscribed vulgar comments on the walls of my house, virtually making our lives hell,” she added.