Two cops harass couple sitting on a park bench

Two cops harass couple sitting on a park bench

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Has moral policing reached Bangalore or was it a case of excessive harassment of law-abiding citizens?
A young, married couple who chose to spend a relaxed Sunday evening at Bugle Rock Park, Basavanagudi, had a horrifying time after two pol i c e m e n hurled filthy abuses at t h e m , roughed them up, threatened them and took them to a police station.
Even more s h o ck i n g about the int i m i d at i o n was that Nisha and Vikram (names changed) were merely enjoying the evening breeze on a bench. The couple has been married for four years now.
In fact, they were chatting on their respective mobiles around 6.45 pm, when a plainclothes constable approached them and questioned them rudely. Asked if they’d done something wrong and whether he could prove his identity, the constable jeered at them: “Oh, you want to see my ID, I will show you now.’’ Then he pulled Vikram by his collar and roughed him up.
Later, a cop in uniform emerged and threatened to kill Vikram. His wife Nisha, a journalist with a national daily, said she would call higher police authorities for help. But they abused her too. When Vikram protested that they couldn’t treat her so rudely, the policemen said derisively: “Want to know how we treat you? Come to the station and you’ll know.’’
The couple was taken to the Basavanagudi police station in a jeep. When the matter was brought to the notice of the higher-ups, the station in-charge apologized and sent the couple away. However, when the issue was being sorted out by the inspector, the policemen slunk away.
They were later identified as Constable Bala Naik and PSI Sharanaiah Gowda attached to the Basavangudi police station. ‘Cops humiliated us for no reason’
Bangalore: It was a Sunday that Vikram and Nisha would like to forget. They were harassed by two cops when they were quietly sitting on a park bench and enjoying their evening.
“We are law-abiding citizens. Bugle Rock is a wonderful park barely 10 minutes walk from our home. We come here for a stroll whenever we can. It was my wife’s birthday. We had friends coming over for dinner. But we were picked up at 7 pm by the police and we could reach home only at 11.15 pm. We had to send our guests back without food,’’ said Vikram.
A shaken Nisha said: “I was witness to my husband being physically and verbally abused. They abused me too with choicest of words. One of them even poked me with a lathi. They pushed and dragged us into the police van in public view. It was such a humiliating experience.’’
DCP South Alok Kumar said that he had sought a report on the incident. He said the cops were not supposed to rough up anybody. “I have directed the jurisdictional ACP to submit a report on the incident. It’s a routine beat for police to request people to move from dark stretches of parks. But, under any circumstances they shouldn’t have roughed up a couple,’’ he said.