Former IPS Officer Alleges Women Cops Are Sexually Assaulted By Male Colleagues

The first woman India Police Service (IPS) officer, R Sreelekha in an interview with leading daily talked about the sexual harassment within the police force.

The retired officer also narrated an incident when a woman Sub Inspector asked Sreelekha to save her from a Deputy Inspector General (DIG). The woman Sub Inspector claimed that the DIG was predatory towards her. Sreelekha narrated that she had called the DIG and made an excuse as to why the woman Sub Inspector would not be able to see him that day.

Sreelekha further shared the environment at police stations when it comes to women. She said, "I heard that a DGP, who was in office when I was going to join the force in the state, said that a woman was coming to pollute ‘our department’. I have also heard a lot of abusive words from male colleagues. They’d make anonymous phone calls and shout abuses but I can recognise the voices."

After Sreelekha's claims, the Kerala Police Officers Association General Secretary CR Biju took to his Facebook profile and questioned the retired officer what she did after the woman SI came to her with a complaint. "If such an incident has happened, by hiding and saving the face of the harasser, she was behaving irresponsibly,” Biju wrote.

Biju added that Sreelakha was being insulting all the officers who held the DIG position at the time by not naming the DIG in the story. The general secretary also said that there was no basis for Sreelekha's allegations within the police force.

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Vinaya NA, a Sub Inspector in women's cell of Thrissur Rural told the News Minute, "One should also count the harassment involved in the things they say to you, the lewd comments and language used against you. Apart from actual physical harassment. For instance, a  male official told me, ‘you have not seen proper men’. I have been called ‘thalle’ (a derogatory term for ‘mother’ in Malayalam) and many other vulgar terms. I have given complaints but there is no use." Vinaya also said that she has been sexually harassed many times and once when she complained to a Circle Inspector, she was humiliated. " So I believe Sreelekha madam a hundred percent when she says there is sexual harassment in the police force. There are many victims within the force but no one would speak out,” Vinaya added.

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan also spoke on the matter in Kerala Assembly on February 21 and said, "Sreelekha IPS did not specify when she faced these bad experiences. She never shared with me about any such wrong practices happening in the police force. She had expressed her opinions but not about any bad experiences. We can take action only if she specifies what happened and during which period it happened.”