A woman on Monday complained to the State Human Rights Commission that the Begumpet police had refused to accept her complaint regarding molestation by a group of men working at a private firm. According to Neeraja Rao, a writer and social activist, she went to the police station at around 3 pm on March 10 and had to wait till late at night as the policemen didn’t receive her complaint, and did not give her a copy of the FIR. She claimed that instead of taking down her complaint, the cops asked her to “settle” the case, saying that the men would lose their jobs if she complained.
Ms Rao said she, and a friend, had hailed an autorickshaw near Mayurmarg in Begumpet on March 10, but got off as the driver sought extra fare. Seeing this, she claimed, that one Vishwanath Reddy, 37, a BHMS graduate and employee at a private firm, abused and tried to manhandle her, and three others supported him. Later, she learnt that they were all working at Medi-Assist, operating from Galada Towers.
The petitioner claimed that she went to the office and as she complained to the duty manager, one Mr Anil, Mr Reddy started abusing her again. She said that as she took out her shoe in the heat of the moment, about 10 men attacked and molested her. Later, as she tried to file a police complaint, SI Sreenu and Begumpet inspector Narasimha Reddy asked her to patch up. “I was (then) asked to limit my complaint to four lines,” she submitted to the SHRC.
According to her, the cops told her to restrict it to a case of “nuisance on the road, and not a case of molestation in office’’. Ms Rao claimed she met ACP Amit Garg on March 14 but was given the same advice: To let bygones be. The North Zone DCP reportedly told her that he would conduct an investigation based on the account of witnesses. Admitting the petition, Commission member (judicial) Miryala Rama Rao directed the police commissioner to inquire and submit a report by April 16.