Suspended cop’s cousin was unaware of her plan to kill self

Sherkar said,“Amruta told me to wait in the lobby while she went to the main gate. Minutes later,I heard a commotion and saw a large crowd had gathered. When I went there,I saw her lying on the ground. I didn’t know that she had brought pesticide.”

She was taken to G T Hospital,from where she was shifted to Bombay Hospital.

Akolkar has alleged that Assistant Commissioner of Police Sandeep Bhajibhakre in Aurangabad had been sexually harassing her since 2011. She said she had complained to the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission in August last year. She was suspended in November last year following lengthy absence from work and last week,came to the city with Sherkar to request Patil to reinstate her.

“We have registered an offence of attempted suicide against her. She has an old mother and young daughter to support,so she wanted to come back into service. She has made no allegations in her statements,” said Shivajirao Kolekar,Assistant Commissioner of Police,Colaba division.

Akolkar wants to return to her village in Aurangabad,where she lives with her mother Shobha,older brother Swapnil and six-year-old daughter Aditi. “Doctors told me that I am alright now and need to be kept under observation for 15 days,but I will return home in the next two days. I do not have any faith in the police department anymore. None of the senior officers can give me justice,” said Akolkar.

After spending three days in the ICU,she was transferred to a general ward on Saturday,where two constables from the Marine Drive police station,a man and a woman,keep a watch on her and her visitors. “No action has been taken against Bhajibhakre even after an inquiry by the women’s commission. The police department will not act against him. He has only been transferred to Chiplun after my complaint,” she said.

Akolkar graduated from the police academy in 2009 and was posted in Begumpura police station in Aurangabad. “Bhajibhakre would make me work late nights even after my shift ended. At first I did not say anything,but after a while,he made passes at me and it became too much to bear,so I protested,” she said.