TN woman approaches cops with complaint, gets arrested under immoral trafficking prevention act instead
State commission for women takes to task Tambaram Inspector and SI
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CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women has ordered a departmental inquiry against the then-Tambaram inspector Charles and sub-inspector Durga for illegally arresting a woman under an immoral trafficking prevention act.
The arrest happened after the woman had a stand-off with the SI when the latter tried to photograph her when she went to the station to lodge a complaint against a few auto-rickshaw drivers for their vulgar comments on June 10 last year.
The woman residing in RM Kandigai engaged in making candles and distributing them to shops after she was separated from her drug-addicted husband. To her surprise, a sub-inspector at the station refused to receive a complaint and took her photo on her mobile.
When she objected, SI Durga threatened the woman that she would foist false cases against her and the quarrel escalated. The woman was arrested under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956, and sent to judicial custody for about five months. After spending over Rs 70,000, she was released on bail.
The TN State Commission for Women found that the investigation into the case is still pending but also observed that during the arrest, the police had not followed section 41 CrPC procedure as per Supreme Court guidelines. The top court has also ordered the states concerned to take action against officers failing to follow the procedures.
Besides, Section 8(b) of ITPA was also illegally invoked against the woman, as sex workers are considered victims, not offenders. In this case, the Tambaram Police violated the said legal proposition, the commission added in a recent order.
The commission also termed the explanation of concerned police officers as not satisfactory and said that it was nothing but injustice from the side of the police.
“This commission is sure that the police can do this violation only because the victim is a woman. Five months in jail, the harassment faced and the social stigma cannot be compensated at all,” the order said. The commission also recommended the DGP initiate a departmental inquiry against Inspector Charles and Sub-Inspector Durga. The commission also asked the department to find out the possibility of compensating the victim by considering the gravity of the above illegal action by the Tambaram Police.