A 32-year-old trainee IPS officer, booked on charges of sexually harassing a fellow trainee woman officer at the National Police Academy (NPA) in Hyderabad, allegedly attempted suicide on Monday, hours after a case was registered against him, a family member said.
The trainee officer came to stay at a relative’s house in Moti Nagar on Sunday evening. He was found unconscious on Monday morning and was shifted to a private hospital in Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, where he is undergoing treatment.
His brother said: “My brother was found unconscious this morning, and we immediately transferred him to a private hospital. The doctors told us that his condition is stable. We still do not know exactly what he took. The blood test reports will clarify the matter.”
Doctors said he was taken to hospital around 9.30am on Monday in an unconscious state.
Ravishankar Reddy, who is supervising his treatment, said: “The medical team immediately performed gastric lavage on the patient. His condition is stable.”
The doctor said: “We suspected that he had ingested a toxic substance, according to what his family members told us. Blood samples were collected, and laboratory reports will confirm whether he ingested any toxic substance. His blood pressure, pulse and other vital indicators are stable. He is expected to regain consciousness within the next 24 hours.”
The doctor said that the patient’s brother informed the medical team that there was a bottle of alcohol and a bottle of disinfectant near the trainee officer’s bed, which led the family to suspect that he had taken the disinfectant before he collapsed.
The incident came a day after the police registered a criminal case against the trainee officer at Attapur police station based on a complaint filed by a fellow trainee officer in the IPS alleging sexual harassment.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the trainee officer had been harassing the complainant, a 30-year-old married IPS trainee officer from Karnataka, since June 23 by sending abusive messages and making derogatory remarks in front of other trainees. The complaint also alleged that he accused her of having an affair with another trainee officer and forced her to show her personal conversations.
The FIR also alleged that on July 9, he forcefully took the complainant to her room, grabbed her hair, held a knife to her neck and tried to strangle her before throwing three packets of condoms at her. She also claimed that the previous day he had tried to touch her, recorded private videos of her and sent them to her husband.
The police detained him under sections 74 (assault or criminal force upon a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (sexual harassment), 77 (voyeurism), 78 (stalking), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman), 127 (2) (unlawful confinement), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation). of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66E (invasion of privacy) and 67A (publishing or transmitting material containing an explicit sexual act) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The academy’s excellence committee, after examining CCTV footage and other evidence, concluded that the allegations were prima facie proven, people familiar with the matter said.
Based on the committee’s findings, the academy decided to suspend him and ordered him to be sent off the NPA campus.
“While disciplinary action has been taken at the institutional level, the final decision on his appointment to the Indian Police Service rests with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT),” an official aware of the developments said.
Before the alleged suicide attempt, the trainee Prison Service officer posted a message on WhatsApp denying all allegations and media reports against him. He described the accusations as false, and said that he fully trusts the legal system, expressing his confidence that justice will prevail.
The cadet officer’s brother has rejected allegations of sexual harassment and reports that the NPA has suspended his brother. He confirmed that his brother had not committed any violations, and claimed that the accusations against him were baseless.
“He was not suspended by the National Police Academy. He returned home after receiving an extraordinary leave. Since returning home, he has been unusually calm. My brother rose from the rank of police constable to become an IPS officer after overcoming many difficulties. He claimed that the allegations made by the female IPS trainee were completely false.”
