Chandigarh stalking case: Pressure mounts on Haryana govt, police; victim, her father vow to continue fight

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar-led government has been drawing flak from the Opposition for the pressure that was allegedly brought on the Chandigarh Police to dilute the case against Vikas Barala, son of Subhash Barala, and his friend Ashish Kumar, who were earlier arrested for allegedly stalking and intimidating the 29-year-old woman last week. However, both the accused were released later on bail after being booked under bailable sections of the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act.

Detailing the sequence of events in her complaint, the woman said, “To me, it was very clear that these boys intended to abduct me even tried to open the door. Kindly file an FIR under the appropriate sections of law.” However, Chandigarh Police ignored sections of attempt to kidnap — which is a stronger charge, and has serious legal repercussions — in the FIR and instead put bailable charges — stalking and wrongful restraint — and released both accused on bail.

Amid criticism surrounding its flip-flop in the incident, Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eish Singhal said,”We are investigating the case with an open mind. If any section has to be added at a later stage, we will do it.” His comments came a day after Chandigarh Police officers claimed that the statement by the Haryana cadre IAS officer’s daughter “did not attract the charge of kidnapping bid” to be included in the FIR, though the FIR registered at the Sector 26 police station contradicted the police officers’ claims.

DSP Satish Kumar speaking during a press conference on arrested of Haryana BJP president’s son Vikas Barala and his friend (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)

Rubbishing allegations of working under political pressure, Singhal accused the media of conducting a “media trial” in the matter. “We are not doing anything under pressure. We are a professional investigating agency and we are doing our job,” he said. However, the officer refused to answer questions on reports that video footage of seven of the nine CCTVs had gone missing.

“We have reconstructed the scene of the crime. We are trying to get the CCTV footage. We will get the technical analysis of this done. We have been investigating it only for three days,” he said. He also defended the police action in the matter, saying the police officials immediately booked the accused and arrested them.

Earlier, police had said there was no CCTV footage of the incident. Addressing the media, Deputy Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar had earlier said that they tried to get footage from nine CCTV cameras along the route, from Sector 7 to Housing Board traffic light point, but all were found in a “non-functional” state.

Victim, her father vow to continue fight, say they will move court if charges ‘diluted’

Earlier in the day, the Haryana IAS officer sought “maximum punishment” for the accused, and insisted that he will move court if charges against the duo are found to be “diluted”. However, he stated that the family would not interfere with the investigation. “We will not interfere with the investigation or the prosecution, just as we do not want the accused to influence the investigation in any way. The police and prosecution should be allowed to do their job,” he said in a Facebook post. “We will join the investigation whenever required by the police. We will contest in the court if we feel the charges are diluted or inadequately framed,” the bureaucrat said, adding, “WE SHALL NOT, EVER, BACK OUT OR STAND DOWN, irrespective of hardships or pressures”.

Kirron Kher

Describing the incident as a “cut and dried” case, the IAS officer opined that there would be something wrong in the society if the system failed to deliver justice. “In a cut and dried case like this, where there is nothing hazy or unclear in terms of actions or identities, if the system fails to deliver justice, then there is something deeply rotten in our society, our government, and our country,” he said.

READ | No political pressure on Chandigarh police, says Kirron Kher

He then said the accused being law students were fully aware of the consequences of their action. “Our target is to ensure that the guilty are brought to book. They are adult men, students of law, who are fully aware of the consequences of their actions, and hence must be appropriately punished.”

BJP rubbishes allegations that police working under political pressure 

Reacting to the developments surrounding the incident, BJP MP Kirron Kher stated that Chandigarh police was not facing any political pressure in the woman stalking incident and assured the victim and her family that justice would be done. The BJP leader also lamented that certain “wild allegations” like the one on CCTV footage going missing were being made and insisted that the law would take its course. “The police are under no political pressure, this is absolutely baseless. The Chandigarh police are doing their job as any professional force does,” she said.

“The police have assured the victim and her family that wherever CCTV cameras are installed and any footage that the cameras would have captured is going to be kept secure,” the MP said, adding:”As a mother, I can understand the sentiments of the victim’s family at this time. Whatever is legal and correct in this case, will be done.”

BJP rules out resignation of Subhash Barala

The BJP also said state unit chief Barala will not resign from his post following allegations of his son Vikas’s involvement in the stalking case. “Subhash Barala hasn’t resigned and he will not resign. Let law take its own course,” Anil Jain, party’s national general secretary, told The Indian Express

Why was he out so late, asks Chandigarh BJP leader

Chandigarh BJP Vice President Ramveer Bhatti has sparked controversy for reportedly suggesting that girls and women should not go alone at midnight. When asked by the media, Bhatti said, “What I meant to convey is that it is the responsibility of parents to watch over their children and their activities.”

“It is a general statement and not directed at the victim. I am saying, be it a boy or a girl, parents should be watching what they are doing. I am not saying that girls should be confined to their homes,” he said while describing the incident as ‘shameful’ and ‘unfortunate’.

However, his reported statement did not go down well with his own party colleague Kher. “I think this is a very unfortunate statement, which reflects the mindset of many men in this country. I think that Bhatti should have exercised restraint and not made this comment,” Kher said.

Other reactions

The National Commission for Women has sought a free and fair probe into the incident and also asked for regular updates in the case. NCW Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said, “In the letter (to police) we have asked them to conduct a quick, immediate, fair and free investigation in the case and let us know what is happening in every stage.”

Reflecting on the incident, the Indian Administrative Service (Central) Association– which claims to represent all 5,004 IAS officers working across the country–demanded “exemplary and timely punishment” for such offences. “Absolutely shocking. Time we made our nation a safe place for all women. Exemplary and timely punishment for offences a must,” it said.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy accused the Chandigarh Police of doing a “somersault” on the case, and said he would file a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for a court-monitored CBI probe into the incident. “With my associate lawyer AP Jagga on attempted abduction of an IAS officer’s daughter by two drunk goons, I will file a PIL in Chandigarh,” he tweeted.

With IANS, PTI inputs