Delhi cop manhandled by family of man accused of molestation

A policeman was allegedly manhandled when he went to detain a man in connection with a molestation complaint in north Delhi's Subzi Mandi area, officials said on Thursday.

A purported video of the incident that has surfaced online showed the accused's family members manhandling Head Constable Mukesh. The incident took place on Wednesday night when Mukesh went to accused Kapil's house to detain him following a molestation complaint against him, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Manoj Kumar Meena said. Kapil had allegedly thrown a water-filled balloon at a woman on Wednesday evening. When she objected, he physically assaulted her, chased her and misbehaved with her after which she approached the police, Meena said. When the head constable reached the spot to apprehend the accused, his family members confronted him, the DCP said.

''The suspect was forcibly taken away by his family members when the Delhi Police team sought to apprehend the suspect and take him to the police station, they were confronted by locals,'' he said.

Another video of the altercation showed a group of people, including women, physically assaulting the police officer on duty.

According to police, on Wednesday night at 10:54 pm, a PCR call was received at Subzi Mandi police station reporting that a man had forcibly removed a woman's dupatta and followed her to her home, leading to a quarrel.

''At the time, the station house officer and some staff were at Valmiki Bara responding to another PCR call regarding a quarrel. Upon receiving the new call regarding the woman's harassment, some of the staff immediately left Valmiki Bara and arrived at Arya Pura to address the situation,'' the DCP said.

Upon reaching the spot, the police personnel apprehended Kapil. However, his family members surrounded the police personnel and prevented them from taking Kapil into custody, the officer said.

''Eventually, they succeeded in freeing Kapil from the police. The police staff exercised minimal force during the scuffle. The matter was informed to the senior police officers who, along with additional staff, arrived at the scene and managed to bring the situation under control,'' the DCP said.

Police said that the victim filed a complaint stating that her neighbour Kapil threw a water-filled balloon at her, verbally abused her, removed her dupatta, and physically assaulted her.

''Based on her statement, a case has been registered against Kapil under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage modesty), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC,'' the DCP said.

Additionally, medical examinations were conducted on the police personnel involved, and a general diary entry was logged in this regard.

On the basis of the head constable’s statement, another case was registered against Kapil and his family members under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 34 (common intentions) of the IPC, the DCP added.