Assam IPS officer Charged Under POCSO Act For Sexually Assaulting A Minor

Assam IPS officer named Gaurav Upadhyay has been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The Assam police have charged him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act. A chargesheet against him was filed on March 31 this year under sections 354, 354A (assault or criminal force to outrage modesty, sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO act.

The case was initially registered against Gaurav Upadhyay in January last year, which was being investigated by the Assam Criminal Investigation Department.

According to the chargesheet filed against him, "sufficient evidence" has been gathered, which proves that the IPS officer had "committed aggravated sexual assault as defined under section 9(a)(iv) and section 9(c) of the POCSO Act, 2012, as well as offences under section 354 and 354 A of IPC."

The IPS officer was made the Superintendent of Police for a district in Bodoland, located in lower Assam. This happened on May 14 this year.

Assam IPS officer allegedly assaulted the girl in 2019

It is reported that the assault took place in the house of the accused about two years ago, i.e, December 31, 2019. The accused had held a party in his house on that day. Then on 3 January, a case was filed against the officer, at an all-women police station. The case was later investigated upon by Assam's CID.

Assam Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that the accused could be arrested under the law if the court decides to do so.

About the IPS officer

Gaurav Upadhyay is a 2012 batch IPS officer, who hails from Uttar Pradesh. He was the police superintendent of Karbi Anglong, at the time when he had allegedly assaulted the girl. He was then transferred to Chirang this year, which was done as part of the police transfers which took place after the new state government assumed office this month.