Despite growing clamour over his resignation, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar says he will not step down; states his exit won't change ground reality
Amidst growing demands for his resignation, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said he would not step down over growing number of crimes against women in the Capital. Kumar said his exit would not remedy the situation.
“If my resigning will prevent such depravity in the society, then I am prepared to resign a thousand times. But that is not going to address this problem,” he told mediapersons at a press conference yesterday.
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Down with the police: A protester displays a poster condemning Delhi police; (top right) police commissioner Neeraj Kumar addressing a press conference in the national capital yesterday. Pics/AFP
Kumar said the factors responsible for the rising numbers of crimes against women in the city were mental depravity, psychopathy and mental sickness. “And that won’t be solved by anyone resigning, least of all the leader of the police force,” he said.
Taking on the media, Kumar asked, “For any misreporting that you do, does your editor resign? This is my counter question.” He said it was not ‘humanely’ possible for the police force to prevent rape cases like that of the five-year-old.
“Is it humanely possible for a policeman to prevent a case like this? Can the police prevent it? The fact of the matter is rapes are opportunist crimes committed within the confines of private spaces. Ninety-seven per cent of such cases are committed within the confines of homes, only three per cent are committed by strangers,” he said.
Asked if he was satisfied with the functioning of the department during his tenure, Kumar, who retires in July, shot back, “Absolutely. It is the only department that takes most action against the ‘erring subordinates.”
Commenting on the behaviour of some policemen following the rape incident, the commissioner said that no time was lost in initiating action against the erring officials.
“Various allegations have been made about the conduct of police officials after the incident. One major incident was the slapping of a girl by ACP B S Ahlawat. I lost no time in placing him under suspension. Further action against the ACP will be taken after an inquiry by the Delhi government,” Kumar said. He agreed that prima facie there were shortcomings on the part of the police.
“Within a few hours of the incident, we came to know that there was shortfall in the reaction by the staff of the Gandhi Nagar police station. I placed them under suspension as they did not respond as they should have had,” Kumar said.
He stated that efforts were made to identify the policemen who offered Rs.2,000 to the victim’s father to hush up the case.
Her said since the girls’ father was busy with her treatment, identification of the policeman was yet to happen. But the department was ready to facilitate the parade of staff from the Gandhi Nagar police station at AIIMS if needed.
“Exemplary action will be taken against policemen found lax in dealing with the child rape case,” he said. Kumar also refuted claims that there was a delay in the registering the FIR.
Justice Verma passes away
Justice JS Verma, the 27th Chief Justice of India, who headed a three-member panel to suggest changes in existing laws to improve security for women following the Dec 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape, died yesterday due to multiple organ failure. He was 80. u00a0
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