It has now come to light that a sub-inspector from Calangute police station was involved in verbal abuse and harassment of a lady and a journalist no less, late last month. In a complaint to North Goa SP Priyanka Kashyap, sent early this month, the lady has mentioned overt sexual harassment, obnoxious, intimidatory and sexist behaviour by the policeman, but no action has been taken on the complaint as yet.
According to the lady, the police sub-inspector abused, sexually intimidated and threatened her, and even called a police jeep to have her arrested because she refused to be browbeaten by him and said she would complain about his behaviour to his higher ups.
“After I told him about that (complaint to higher ups) he started mocking me in front of other police personnel who were present. When I told him that he was a police officer and his cheap behaviour was degrading the department, he threatened to arrest me and called a lady police constable,” says the complaint.
“He also used abusive words in Konkani which are not acceptable from a public officer. When I informed him that I would take up the matter with the superintendent of police and the women’s cell, he dared me to and openly challenged me to do what I want.”
The complaint states, “He abused me, physically intruded into my personal space, eyeing me up and down in a very arrogant and sexist manner, tried to intimidate me and threatened to have me arrested… He had the temerity to call up the police station, call a lady police constable to have me arrested as I questioned his behaviour and threatened to report his behavior to his higher ups.”
The lady said she had sent a hired help from home to fill petrol in a vehicle at a neighboring pump and he was caught without a license. She said she had gone to sort out the matter and give the police the man’s license, when the incident occurred.
She also complained that the policeman was more interested in looking at her figure and chest than at her and she had to tell him to look at her face while she was talking to him.
Under the new law, the lady said this is sexual harassment. Till date no action has been taken.
