Bengaluru cop accused of sexually assaulting wife and minor step-daughter

The woman addressed the media and alleged that the police sub-inspector has not been arrested even though it has been 18 days since the case was registered.
Bengaluru cop accused of sexually assaulting wife and minor step-daughter
Bengaluru cop accused of sexually assaulting wife and minor step-daughter
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A police sub-inspector in Bengaluru has been booked after his wife accused him of sexually assaulting her as well as her minor daughter. A case was registered at the JC Nagar police station in the city and the woman has said that the police sub-inspector has not been arrested even though it has been 18 days since the case was registered.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Thursday, June 23, the woman accused Sudeep*, a police sub-inspector posted at the Superintendent of Police (SP) office in Bengaluru, of sexually abusing her minor daughter. "He asked my daughter to remove her clothes and sexually assaulted her last month," the complainant said. The daughter is from the complainant's first marriage and is 13 years old.

The woman knew Sudeep from her childhood as they went to the same school in Ashwath Nagar area in Bengaluru. She later met Sudeep at a women's police station in 2010 when she had gone to file a case against her former husband. Sudeep was reportedly at the women's police station, facing a complaint of sexual assault by his former wife. The complainant and the sub-inspector eventually married each other in an interfaith marriage after leaving their respective spouses in the same year.

"I did not know until seven months into my marriage that his first wife had divorced him after he sexually assaulted her," the policeman’s wife told the media on Thursday. She further said that her husband Sudeep also sexually assaulted her several times. "It was a regular occurrence. He would tie me to the bed and beat me up if he was angry. He would throw hot rasam onto me if he did not like the food," the complainant said.

The complainant alleged that Sudeep sexually assaulted her sister too, in 2016. "Few months after the birth of our first child, Sudeep married my sister and began living with her," the complainant alleged.

She further added that Sudeep recently sexually assaulted her daughter, a minor girl. "I had enrolled my daughter in a boarding school for four years and she returned only last month and began living with us again. Sudeep sexually assaulted her after asking her to remove her clothes," the complainant added.

The complainant produced medical records and police complaints as proof to corroborate her version of events. A police case was registered against Sudeep at the JC Nagar Police Station under charges of assault, causing a woman with a child to miscarry, as well as sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Sudeep,  however, is absconding and yet to be arrested.

Veena S, president of the women's wing of Swaraj India's Bengaluru division, urged the police to arrest Sudeep. "These are serious charges levelled against Sudeep and as per rules pertaining to cases under the POCSO Act, the police should have arrested him within 24 hours," she said. "The accusations against him also show he is a serial offender and not fit for duty in the police force," she added.

The press conference was organised by Sajida Begum, state convenor of Mahila Swaraj. "If a police officer can do this to his own wife and step daughter, how can he be expected to uphold the law," Sajida said. Channamma from Mahila Munnade was also present.

(*Name changed to protect the identities of the complainant as well as the minor daughter in accordance with Supreme Court’s 2018 guidelines. In this case, identifying the policeman will reveal identity of the survivor)

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