In UP, cop’s son attempts to rape woman, throws acid on her and others who came to rescue

Sabir Azad and Bhim Manohar

Bareilly: While the Uttar Pradesh government renames cities, law and order deteriorates in the state. Adding to the already abysmal situation of crimes against women, a fresh incident has taken place in Nawabganj, Bareilly district. Deepak, 27-year old son of Om Prakash, a UP policeman stationed in Sambhal, has allegedly sexually assaulted a Dalit woman and thrown acid on her and her neighbourhood friends.

The survivor says, “Taking a break from working in the fields, I went to drink water nearby when Deepak came from behind, pulled my hair and tore open my blouse. He hit me on my chest and tried to violate my dignity.” Her two sons, aged 10 and 12, ran to their mother’s rescue and were physically assaulted by Deepak as well. The younger son managed to escape and ran to call her friends from a nearby area.

“We went running to save her (the survivor), and on seeing the two of us, Deepak picked up the acid container and threw it on all three of us, burning us,” says one lady. All three women and the young boy have sustained minor burns from the attack. The local clinic has now discharged them after providing basic medical attention.

The three women went to the local police station to register a complaint against Deepak. “We made a note of the complaint and promptly arrested Deepak,” says Satish Kumar, Superintendent of Police, rural. At a press conference, SP Kumar said that the accused has been booked under Sections 324 and 354, for voluntarily causing hurt using a dangerous weapon and assaulting a woman with the intention to outrage her modesty, respectively.

The accused Deepak, has categorically denied all rape and acid attack allegations against him - “I was not present at the spot itself, I went only in the evening. The acid container was kept on the wall of the kolhu, and the women must have accidentally dropped it on themselves by moving it with sticks. These allegations against me are baseless.”

SP Satish Kumar adds that they suspect the accused attacked the three women due to a previous altercation he had had with them. “We have arrested the accused on the basis of this information. The probe is on,” Kumar tells Firstpost.

As per police complaints, this is not the first time Deepak has been booked for a crime. Previously, he was arrested under Section 302 and sent to jail for allegedly running over an individual with a tractor and killing him. Deepak, however, denies this - “I did not run over the child, and neither was I ever sent to jail.”