Mumbai: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has come down heavily on the Maharashtra police for the illegitimate behavior that one of its officers attached to the Virar police station extended towards a youth, leaving the 28-year-old, with no other option but to end his life. The commission, in a stern note, has thus asked the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra, to put his men under an awareness and sensitisation course so that they adopt a courteous, humane approach towards the citizen.
The court, meanwhile, has directed the Commissioner of Police (CP) of the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai Virar to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to the deceased’s mother for the blatant violation of her human rights. The commission has directed the CP to pay the compensation within a period of six months, failing which an interest rate of eight percent will be imposed on the amount from the date of order until its realization.
The commission, presided over by Justice K K. Tated and M A Sayeed, took suo motu cognizance of a news report that highlighted the unfortunate incident of suicide of a Virar-based youth, Abhay Palshetkar, after facing humiliation from a police officer in the police station.
As per the complaint copy, the police had called Abhay and his mother, Ujwala Palshetkar, to the police station, in connection with the non-cognizable (NC) offense registered by his pregnant wife against the two, a conflict that arose out of their marital discord. The police also forced him to make his signature on the blank pages of one of their notebooks, further threatening him with consequences.
The misery of the entire episode hit him so hard that he recorded a video, first blaming his wife and later the humiliating incident he faced in the police station, which will be responsible for his death, thus committing suicide.
The Commission’s order copy states that following Abhay’s death, Ujwala had made several attempts to register an FIR against the senior . police officer of the Virar police station, but all her attempts turned futile, and there was no response to her plea. Following the news flashed by the electronic media, the SHRC took cognizance and decided to seek an explanation.
The commission had asked the CP to submit a report about Ujwala’s application and had asked to submit the report on behalf of the police station and also to provide all the documents of the case.
The report submitted by the DCP-Zone III, Virar, read that the police had called Ujwala to come and record an FIR against her daughter-in-law, but she refused to abide by the notice. “The record indicates that the FIR was to be registered against the police officer and not against her daughter-in-law, but the respondent police very conveniently had tuned a blind eye to these serious grievances against its officer and rather attempted to cover it up,” says the order copy.
A careful hearing of the suicide video shows a state of severe depression. It reads, “Each and every word uttered by the deceased indicates his hopelessness in our legal system. He and his mother were not only humiliated but also harassed and insulted to the extent of the unfortunate incident.”
The commission held that in such a case where a NC was recorded, the police should have called the families, and a mediation had to be conducted, which would have taken place in a smooth and graceful manner and would not have turned into this ugly-faced incident.
“Such actions (by the police) not only bring disrepute to the institution of the law agency but also compels the citizen to lose their faith and trust, constraining them to knock three doors of justice either from the court of law or from statuary commissions and tribunals, the order maintained.
