Agarwaltimes - Auto driver slaps woman in public

CHENNAI: A 23-year-old woman passenger had to wait for three hours to register a complaint at the Mambalam police station after an autorickshaw driver slapped and manhandled her in full public view in T Nagar on Wednesday evening. 

R Vasanthra, a volunteer with an NGO, boarded a share autorickshaw on North Boag Road at 5.15pm and asked the driver to take her to the T Nagar bus terminus. The driver, Lingapandi, 52, agreed but stopped the auto 500m from her destination. He asked her to alight there and walk the rest of the way because he wanted to avoid a one-way stretch farther up the road. 

When she stood her ground, pointing out that he had agreed to take her to the terminus, he abused and thenslapped her in the face repeatedly in front of passersby. 

There was a man sitting next to the driver and a woman in the back seat. "When the driver started to abuse me, they got out and hurried away," Vasanthra said. "But other people soon gathered and made sure the driver did not escape. They informed the traffic police and helped me take the auto driver to the police station." 

The young woman did not know it but, as bad as her day had been till then, the policemen there were about to make it worse. "It was an appalling ordeal," she said. "The policemen at the station made me wait for more than three hours to register my complaint. They refused to believe what I was saying and asked me how the driver, a thin man, could have assaulted me. Several people witnessed the attack but no one backed me because they were unwilling to get caught up in a police case." 

Instead of filing a first information report (FIR), the policemen tried to convince Vasanthra to withdraw her complaint. Outraged by their attitude, she insisted that they take note of her case. The policemen finally gave her a receipt of a community service register (CSR) entry at 8.30pm on Wednesday. 

When contacted, a police officer at Mambalam police station said it was possible that Vasanthra made a false complaint. "The driver, Lingapandi, alleged that the woman hit him on his back while sitting in the auto," he said. 

Former director-general of police Bholonath said that some police officers suppressed cases. Police personnel these days issue CSRs instead of filing FIRs, he said. 

"The police chief should assign a senior police officer to look into CSRs and dispose of them after thorough scrutiny," he said. "They should question police inspectors or assistant commissioners of police (ACP) concerned if they failed to register an FIR on a complaint when it is warranted."

Agarwaltimes