‘Torture’ of female home guard by 'Odisha Police DIG’s wife;' complaint filed with NHRC

Alleged torture of a female home guard by the wife of a Police DIG in Odisha took another turn on Tuesday after human rights activist, Jayanata Das filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

In his complaint, Das demanded stern action against the Police DIG and his wife and a compensation of Rs 30 lakh for the home guard which he further demanded to be sourced from the salary of the police official.

The complaint was filed after the female home guard, Sairindri Sahu brought serious allegations against the wife of DIGP Brijesh Kumar Rai and claimed that she lost both her legs in a suicide attempt after failing to bear the torture. She is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Cuttack.

Sairindri alleged that the wife of DIGP Rai was asking her to do too much physical work, torturing her, beating her up and even threatening her to take her job away. She didn’t even allow Sairindri to take leave. Describing the sequence of events, she further stated in her complaint that on a particular day, the DIG’s wife pushed her and asked her to go and end her life somewhere when she refused to wash some clothes.

As per reports, Sairindri already informed her ordeal to the Home Guard DG in writing on August 13. Sairindri also alleged that no action has so far been taken in this regard.

Meanwhile, North Central Range DIGP, Brijesh Kumar Rai termed the allegations brought against his wife as baseless.

When contacted, Rai told OTV over the phone that “She had been upset due to family issues. We have never mistreated her. Someone might have instigated her to go against us.”

Sairindri has reportedly taken up the matter with not only the Home Guard DG but also with the Chief Minister, the Governor, the 5T Secretary, and all the concerned officers.

Meanwhile, politics also heated up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terming the incident as shameful.

Speaking to reporters, BJP’s Lekhashree Samantsinghar said, “This is unacceptable. I condemn this and I demand strong action against the persons involved in this. Action should be taken so that such kinds of incidents never occur again.”

Reacting to BJP’s demand, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA, Amar Prasad Satapathy said, “The government will definitely take action if any such incident comes to the fore.”

Later on the day, DIG Rai was transferred to the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack.