IAS officer loses cool,thrashes 3-year-old in public

Garima,a student of Delhi Public School,Sector 40,was on her way back home to Dadumajra village in an autorickshaw,along with four other schoolchildren. Around 4.30 pm,the autorickshaw driver took a halt in the Sector 38 (West) market to drop one of the children. Garima was sitting in the front seat with the driver,who got off the vehicle leaving its ignition on.

In the mean time,Sujata came to the market and parked her luxury car (CH-01-AB-5120) right next to the autorickshaw. Garima,who was fiddling with the steering,accidentally pulled the gear-lever,as a result of which the auto-rickshaw banged into the rear door of the Honda City and left a minor scratch on the door.

An agitated Sujata then pulled Garima out of the auto and slapped her at least six times. Vinod Kumar,an eyewitness,told Newsline: “She (Sujata) seemed to be under the influence of some drugs or intoxicant. She could not talk properly,nor did she listen to anybody. When the people in the market tried to stop her,she started shouting that she is an IAS officer and will set everybody right. The people had a tough time rescuing the child from her wrath. Without showing any mercy on her,she kept on slapping the girl.”

As police reached the spot,after being informed by an onlooker,Sujata took out her mobile phone and called up a senior police officer,who spoke to the personnel present at the spot. Sujata and the children were brought to the Sector-39 police station thereafter. Garima’s father Pradeep Kumar,who works as an electrician in Haryana’s public works department,was called too.

“When I reached the police station,my daughter was visibly shaken and badly crying,” said Pradeep.

After about two hours of questioning,Sujata was let off,without any medical examination. When asked about the “intoxication”,Sujata Dass told the police that she was suffering from spondylitis and was taking some medicines,which might have caused some dizziness. She refuted allegations of being under any kind of intoxication.

SHO Inspector Charanjit Singh said: “Both parties reached a compromise,and hence we let off Sujata Dass. We asked the child’s father to give a complaint in writing,but he was satisfied with Sujata’s repeated apologies. The case is closed.”

Who is Sujata Dass?

Sujata Dass,a senior IAS officer of Punjab,is on a unique mission to provide affordable medicare to the state’s population,particularly middle and lower strata of the society. She has been working to popularise Ayurvedic acupuncture,an alternative system of medicine,to bring treatment without side-effects to the doorsteps of people. She has also opened two treatment centres under the aegis of the Sital Dass Charitable Trust.