Thaindian News

Agartala, Feb 2 (IANS) A rights group in Tripura Tuesday urged the union home ministry to withdraw the police medal of a senior official for shielding his bureaucrat brother, who has been accused of sexually abusing a woman. The victim later committed suicide.
The Tripura Human Rights Organisation (THRO) has written to the home ministry, alleging that Deputy Inspector General (DIG) (southern range) Bimal Krishna Roy be stripped of the president’s police medal given to him.

“In a letter, we have strongly urged the union home ministry to withdraw the medal from the DIG for his involvement in interfering in an alleged sexual abuse case to save his senior civil servant brother,” said Purosottam Roy Burman, secretary of the rights group.

Bimal Krishna Roy’s brother Bijoy Krishna Roy, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been accused of sexually harassing his 37-year-old private secretary Sarbari Chakma Debbarma. Sarbari committed suicide by setting herself on fire in February last year after giving a written complaint to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar that she was sexually abused by her boss.

Bijoy Krishna was the commissioner of the state government’s food and civil supplies and jail departments.

Earlier last year, the Tripura government asked the two brothers - Bimal and Bijoy - to go on leave pending a judicial probe into the alleged sexual abuse.

A government spokesperson then said: “The two top official brothers were asked to go on leave for an indefinite period after the police found prima facie evidence of sexual exploitation of a woman employee.”

“To malign Sarbari’s family and her husband, Bimal Krishna Roy, the Tripura police DIG, misused his position,” the spokesperson said.

The Tripura government earlier probed the incident through the state Criminal Investigative Department (CID) and then ordered a judicial inquiry by retired Guwahati High Court judge Pradip Kumar Sarkar.

The THRO’s demand to the home minister comes nearly a month after the central government stripped former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore of the police medal he was given for meritorious service in 1985.

Rathore was Dec 21, 2009, sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of Rs.1,000 for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra 19 years ago. Ruchika committed suicide in 1993.

“As Rathore’s medals were withdrawn by the (union) home ministry, Tripura DIG’s medal must be withdrawn as both the cases are almost similar,” Roy Burman, a senior lawyer, told reporters.

Following the recommendations of the Tripura government and union home ministry, the president’s police medal for distinguished service was given to Bimal Krishna Roy during this year’s Republic Day.