A senior Uttar Pradesh police officer was caught on camera telling an aged man in Saharanpur that he should either kill his daughter, who had eloped, or commit suicide.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Saharanpur Satish Kumar Mathur told a petitioner from Kaserwa Khurd, Shaukeen, that the matter of his daughter's elopment was one of great shame. Had it been him, Mathur said, he would have either shot dead the daughter or killed himself.
Mathur was caught by local television channels in a clip that was broadcast on national television.
The state government ordered a probe into the matter and asked the inspector general (IG) of Meerut to look into the matter and come back to the government with the facts.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) rapped the police official for his statement, which sought to promote honour killing.
Additional Director General (ADG) Law & Order Jagmohan Yadav initially said Mathur had told him he'd been misquoted. Yadav then conceded that if the matter was what was shown on television, it was 'serious and against social values'.
A senior official added that the matter had reached top officials and that the state government might have to act against him and remove him from the field posting.