Geetanjali was found shot dead on July 17. TheCJM claimed she had killed herself, but her family suspected foul play, claiming Geetanjali -- married for six years -- had been routinely harassed for dowry. Her father and brother had initially accused police of going slow on registering an FIR on their complaint against her husband.
But this is not the first time that the state cops are facing such allegations of trying to protect the 'powerful' or acting slow in such cases.
In the sensational honour killing case of Manoj-Babli in 2007, the cops were accused of being hand-in-glove with the victims' family members. Even the Punjab and Haryana high court had held the Haryana police responsible for the couple's brutal killing observed, "It was police which laid the death trap for the couple."
Manoj and Babli of the same 'gotra' from Karoran village in Kaithal district had tied the knot against the social norms and wishes of their families. The couple was allegedly kidnapped by Babli's family members and eliminated. According to the FIR, Babli was forced to consume pesticide while Manoj was strangulated to death by her family members. Their bodies were dumped in a canal on June 23, 2007.
The state cops also failed to act when a woman committed suicide in front of the office of the director general police (DGP) to protest police inaction to nab two Rohtak cops whom she accused of having raped her in April, 2008. The case was later handed over to the CBI. Sarita was raped by police officers after she was called in connection with her husband's arrest in a theft case. After approaching police repeatedly to register a case, Sarita committed suicide by consuming poisonright next to the DGP's office in Panchkula. A special CBI court recently sentenced five cops in the case.
In the high profile Ruchika molestation case, police highhandedness was evident like never before. The 16-year-old tennis player was molested by S P S Rathore, who retired later as DGP (Haryana). Despite the pending case, Ruchika's tormentor kept on getting promotions from three successive chief ministers, rising to the top. It was only after the HC ordered a CBI inquiry that Rathore was sentenced, nearly 20 years after the crime.
The state police also came under scrutiny for allegedly shielding a minister, O P Jain, and chief parliamentary secretary (CPS), Jile Ram Sharma, after their names surfaced in the murder of Kambopura village sarpanch in Karnal district. Handing over the probe to CBI in August 2012, the HC had observed, "It would not be safe to entrust the investigation to any agency of the state."
The cops were accused of shielding a youth in the BMW hit-and-run case, where son of a Gurgaon-based influential property dealer had rammed his vehicle into an Indigo car killing a pregnant woman, Kshama Chopra. The driver of the BMW was allegedly intoxicated and fled the spot after the incident.
Police first said a college student, who was also seriously injured in the accident, was driving the car. However, later his father, an influential property dealer, said his driver was at the wheel. Outraged over the alleged police inaction, the deceased's family launched a campaign demanding justice. Thereafter, police arrested the boy. Police were also criticized for filing a chargesheet against the accused under weak sections.
Eyebrows were also raised last year when the state cops were seen as trying to shield then state minister Gopal Kanda who was accused of abetting the suicide of 23-year-old former employee and airhostess Geetika Sharma. Charged by the Delhi Police, Kanda is currently in jail.
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