Agra: Student disrobes herself in public after cops refuse to act on rape complaint

A source close to her said the student had complained to Sikandara police station on August 11 that a former college senior, now doing an MTech from IIT Jammu, had kidnapped and raped her in a car in Agra city on August 10

Piyush Srivastava, TT, Lucknow, 28.08.24 :  A final-year engineering student took off her clothes in front of a police outpost on an Agra road in frustration on Sunday, allegedly after the police refused to act on her complaint of rape.

A source close to her said the student had complained to Sikandara police station on August 11 that a former college senior, now doing an MTech from IIT Jammu, had kidnapped and raped her in a car in Agra city on August 10.

“Since then she kept visiting Sikandara police station, and the Dayalbagh chawki (outpost) under it, every day. But the police would ask her not to bother them, saying they would call her when they were done collecting evidence,” the source told reporters on Tuesday.

“They would misbehave with her and allege that she had done everything willingly and there was no rape. She went to the Dayalbagh chawki again on Sunday but the cops didn’t behave decently with her. She came out and removed all her clothes in

frustration.”

The source went on: “While she was removing her clothes — and later when she fainted for a while — some people kept shooting videos on their mobile phones and the policemen stood at a distance, laughing.

“Then a woman psychiatrist, who has her clinic at the site, rushed to the girl, covered her from others’ eyes, and put her clothes back on her with the help of her assistant. Later, the police informed the student that a case had been registered against the accused (on her complaint).

“But the police also concluded, without any medical examination, that she was mentally unstable and sent her to a psychiatrist’s clinic.”

The source added: “Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was in Agra on Sunday and Monday, but (the police’s sense of impunity is such that) they didn’t feel any need to behave decently with the victim.”

Sukanya Sharma, additional commissioner of police (Agra), told reporters that the police had admitted the engineering student to hospital and that an inquiry was under way.

The student’s family lives elsewhere, and she is a boarder at a hostel in Agra.

Shivansh Singh, the senior accused by the student, arrived in Agra on Monday and was quoted as telling the police that he was innocent.

“He is showing some proof of his innocence. We are interrogating him,” a police officer who didn’t want to be named said.