Deputy jailor arrested for ‘sexual harassment’ of Uzbek woman

Police Wednesday arrested Gupta from his relative’s place in Deoria and produced him before a court in Maharajganj which sent him to judicial custody. The investigating officer, deputy SP Rachna Mishra, said the woman had accused Gupta of sexually assaulting her two to three times.

“Her statement was recorded before the magistrate in September,” said Mishra, adding they were yet to record statements of some jail inmates.

Mishra added that there are circumstancial evidence against the accused. “We have collected evidence which verifies that Rs 44,000 was transferred to the bank account of Gupta’s brother in three installments,” she said.

DIG Jail (Gorakhpur) Yadvendra Shukla said after the allegations were made, an inquiry was conducted and Gupta suspended in October. “Departmental inquiry against him is still pending,” said the DIG.

The woman was arrested from Nepal border in Maharajganj district on January 19 last year for allegedly entering India without valid documents. She was booked under Section 14 of the Passport Act and sent to the district jail on January 20 where Gupta was posted as the deputy jailor.

While in jail, the victim had filed a complaint with a local court of Maharajganj in June, alleging she was being sexually assaulted by Gupta. When she was brought to the court for the hearing in her passport case, she brought up her complaint, and also alleged that Gupta had taken money from her family for her release from judicial custody.

The court then forwarded her application to Maharajganj police as well as to the district jail directing officials to look into the matter. Later, the woman was transferred to Siddharthnagar district jail.