Policeman suspended for letting off harassment accused

Kolkata, April 16 (IANS) A Kolkata Police sub-inspector (SI) was suspended Monday for allegedly letting off a man accused of sexually harassing a woman in the Garfa locality.

"SI Ramesh Chandra Das has been suspended for dereliction of duty as he did not register an FIR (First Information Report) which, as a police officer, is his duty to do," Partha Mukherjee, officer-in-charge of Garfa Police Station, said. The accused has been arrested again, he said.

Action against the officer was taken after the woman victim complained of inaction.

She said that while she was on her way home with a friend on Saturday night, a man passed lewd comments about her. She complained to the officer, who nabbed the man and brought him to the police station. However, on Sunday, she saw the man again roaming in the locality.

"The officer did not register a written complaint despite repeated requests but assured me that he will take action. But when I saw the offender roaming around, I made a complaint again and made sure it was registered," said the woman.

"I do not know why a case was not registered. We had waited at the police station for a long time to register our complaint," said the woman's friend.

The man also threatened her for having gone to the police, the woman said.

The accused was presented in a local court Monday.

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