An officer, a gentleman

In a short span of six days Bapi Sen, a police sergeant based in Kolkata, had become a familiar name to thousands in this country. When he d...

In a short span of six days Bapi Sen, a police sergeant based in Kolkata, had become a familiar name to thousands in this country. When he died on Monday morning numerous people, quite removed from his immediate circle, mourned.

What made a hitherto unknown policeman so special was the exemplary courage he displayed in taking on five men whom he found misbehaving with a woman as part of their New Year revelry. Sen was not in uniform so he could well have looked the other way. It was the fact that he chose to act when most in the police force would have neglected to do so — even if they were in uniform — is what makes this man, this officer and a gentleman, so unique.

The tragedy is that while Bapi Sen’s response was not typical of our police force, that of his attackers, was. Here were men, supposedly appointed to protect the citizen — particularly women — from assault, themselves turning predators the moment they were out of uniform. Their reaction once confronted was also quite typical. The instinct was to immediately gang up and brutally assault anyone who stood in their way — they beat up Sen until he fell, apparently hit his head on a stone, and went into a coma. There was, initially, some attempt at hushing things up. It was only a while after the event that the culprits were actually apprehended.

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Whether they will be punished in a manner commensurate with their crimes is, of course, a question that only the future will answer. Remember we are speaking here of a system in which police officials are constantly protecting each other, even when proved guilty of wrongdoing.

The manner in which Haryana IG, Ravi Kant Sharma, succeeded in evading arrest for weeks on end is a case in point. All this makes it extremely difficult to take too seriously the initial pious squawks made by politicians and police officers over this case. Bapi Sen’s memory must be honoured in three important ways. First, by publicly recognising his courageous intervention. Two, by taking care to see that his family is adequately looked after and not just in the short term. Three, by ensuring that his attackers are brought to justice.

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