A day after a woman leader of the Samajwadi Party was sexually harassed during the filing of nominations for local polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the suspension of all policemen from Lakhimpur police station.
According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to suspend the entire police team working in the Lakhimpur police station after two men allegedly tried to disrobe a Samajwadi Party leader on Thursday. The suspended policemen include Circle Officer (CO) and Station House Officer.
SP woman Panchayat candidate molested in Lakhimpur; UP CM suspends entire police station https://t.co/k2vp4Qjt8b
— Republic (@republic) July 9, 2021
On Thursday, two men had attacked the woman leader who had come with a block panchayat candidate to file their nominations. The lady, who was a proposer to a candidate, was disrobed and manhandled by a few men present at the nomination centre. It was reported that the prime accused was a supporter of an independent candidate.
The video of the incident has gone viral on social media, inviting anger against the culprits. In the video, a Samajwadi Party (SP) woman worker was seen being attacked, molested, and her sari snatched by two men as nominations were filed for local polls in Uttar Pradesh. The two men had allegedly attacked the women to ensure their candidate won unopposed.
As per the latest reports, the police have arrested one of the accused named Yash Varma, and have booked several other persons. SP leader Ritu Singh had accused local BJP leaders of abuse and harassment of her supporter Anita who was there to support her nomination.
It is notable here that Ritu Singh is contesting elections for the post of block chairperson from the Pasgawan block in Lakhimpur Kheri. She is contesting against BJP candidate Shikha Singh who is reportedly close to BJP leader Rekha Verma.
I went to file my nomination, but they tore off my nomination paper. They ran off with my purse & tore my clothes. Police was on the scene & did nothing. They were Rekha Verma's goons: Ritu Singh, on misbehaviour with her during nomination filing of block pres polls in Lakhimpur pic.twitter.com/TIblmJmqq1
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 9, 2021
At the venue of filing nominations, there were reportedly clashes between the candidates and supporters of BJP and SP. SP candidate Ritu Singh’s supporter was misbehaved and harassed by some local BJP supporters, as per reports.
Taking a strong note of the incident, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister not only ordered strict action against the accused but also suspended the policemen for not providing enough security to the women. During the meeting, the Chief Minister said no attempts to disturb the peace would be tolerated.
The CM has directed senior police officials to deploy additional forces to maintain peace. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police officials have said that they are investigating the incident and the guilty will not be spared.
