Cops grill crime victim to protect government image

Policemen anxious about the ruling party's PR are treating attacked women like suspects

Policemen anxious about the ruling party's PR are treating attacked women like suspects

As elections approach, Bangalore police are nervous about cases that could bring a bad name to the ruling party.

Wronged: Sanjana, a journalist with Tehelka

Sanjana, the Tehelka reporter attacked in Vasanth Nagar, was summoned by the High Grounds police and grilled again and again. That drained her of the enthusiasm to pursue the case and have the assailants punished.

"I became a suspect after I complained," a weary Sanjana told MiD-DAY.

Police asked her why she did not take down the number of the vehicle, or inform the police soon after the incident.

"I was shocked at the way the police treated me," Sanjana said.

Chauvinist queries

Some of the policemen's questions would have made the moral police proud. "Why did you call your friends and not your father after the assault?" was one of them.

Sanjana was attacked by two-bike borne men who punched in her face when she was about to board an auto near her office at 10.30 pm earlier this month.

Seven men, including the auto driver, a pani puri vendor and some customers, were mute spectators, she recalled.

Incidentally, Sanjana had attended a press conference about attacks against women the day she was attacked.

The attack was sudden but she mustered the courage to catch one of the attackers by his collar.
He and the rider slipped down from the bike but managed to speed away. "I was in shock and completely forgot to note down their number," she said.

Sanjana believes she was targeted as she is a single woman, "an easy target".

'Insignificant'

Police said Sanjana had got into a tiff with a group after her car was involved in a minor accident a few minutes before the assault.

She parked her car in the office as its tyres had been deflated, and decided to take an auto.

Instead of calling the police, Sanjana first called her friends in the press, police said. That, Sanjana explained, was because she had no faith in the police.

Top brass spin

City police commissioner Shankar Bidari insisted such cases should not be attributed to the moral police.

"We do not see any pattern. But we are verifying facts," he told MiD DAY.

Victims don't give us details that could help in our investigations, he said.