Rape victim 'revisits' world of shame in police station

RANCHI: I am a rape victim. But the brutality and shame didn't end with my torture. My ordeal at the hands of the police was no less. When I went to lodge a complaint at Bariyatu police station, the officer-in-charge bombarded me with sick questions. What was the size of my clothes, he would ask me. Every time he called me to the police station, he would lie on a bedsheet on the floor and make indecent gestures.I don't want to go back there. Please help me.
Priya Singh (name changed) choked and started sobbing at this point. Priya was narrating her ordeal to Meera Jaiswal, member of the state women's commission. It's a story of violation, betrayal and fear that gets repeated hundreds of times across the country, but doesn't make it to the headlines.
Priya lived with her husband and mother-in-law at the staff quarters of Ganga Prasad Budhiya Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir. Priya's mother-in-law is a staffer of the school. On July 18, when Priya was alone at home, principal Moharabadi Ram Narayan Singh allegedly barged into her room, threatened her with a knife and raped her.
When Priya's mother-in-law returned, she found the girl's hands tied, with her face battered and bruised. After Priya's husband Shravan returned home, they decided to go to the police the next day. But at the police station, there was a second round of humiliation waiting for her. The OC allegedly did not want to accept the complaint and started harassing the family. The situation finally changed after they approached the court and the city SP intervened and ordered Pathak to lodge a complaint.
More harassment was in store for Priya. As the OC allegedly kept misbehaving with her in the name of conducting an investigation, the principal was pressuring the family to withdraw the case. Pathak, however, denied all charges.
"I never met her alone. In fact, she threatened policemen with dire consequences if her problems were not addressed. She had actually come to lodge a complaint after the school management cut off electricity supply to her home. The whole trouble stems from a property dispute," said Pathak, adding that the charge against the principal also seemed fabricated.
Priya has put her faith in the women's commission. "I didn't know about the commission earlier, or else I would have never gone to the police station. The school authorities are pressuring me to withdraw the case and vacate the house. Our bathroom has been partly demolished by the school management," said Priya.
Jaiswal said she had called OC Pathak to hear his side of the story. Pathak has denied all allegations. "A notice has been sent to Ram Narayan to appear before the commission. The police should not behave in a way that upsets victims. The SSP, Ranchi, will be informed," said Jaiswal.