How top policemen helped Singh Jr

AUGUST 16, 1995

What happened: On August 16, 1995, Santosh Kumar Singh allegedly followed Mattoo’s car on his motorcycle and tried to break into her Vasant Kunj home. The Vasant Kunj Police recorded Mattoo’s complaint. The complaint said: “He followed me, intimidating, abusing and eve-teasing me… He even tried to break open the door of my house when suddenly my father appeared from his office at 5.15 p.m. and got him trapped within thecomplex by the local security guard until the police apprehended him.”

What the police did: However, the police did not register a case of trespassing or intimidation against the accused.

Instead, they had a long talk, as reported by head constable Vijay Kumar. The head constable’s report reads: “I produced Santosh Kumar Singh before the SHO and apprised him of the facts….Then, Assistant Commissioners of Police Prabhati Lal and Satinder Nath arrived. Both ACP Lal and Nath spoke to the girl and boy till 12.30 a.m.”

The police failed to convince Mattoo to withdraw the complaint. According to the report, “ACP Satinder Nath took Santosh Kumar Singh in his vehicle and went to his house.”

All the police managed to get out of the accused that night was a so-called apology letter that says: “I have no concern with the complainant nor shall have any concern in the future.”

Mattoo’s pending complaint was never investigated further.

What the judge said: “That Priyadarshini Mattoo keptthe complaint pending suggests that she was not satisfied by the behaviour of the police officers of the rank of ACPs. The persuasion by senior police officers up to 12.30 at night ought not to have been there if there was no substance in the complaint.”

Why they did it: In fact, the ACPs who had “long talks” were not even posted at the Vasant Kunj police station then. ACP Lal was posted at Naraina police station and ACP Nath was with the Rashtrapati Bhawan police.

When The Indian Express contacted ACP Prabhati Lal (now posted at north-east district), he said: “I have nothing to do with the case. On that night, I had just come by for some work to the Vasant Kunj police station when Mattoo and her parents had come to lodge the complaint. It was a coincidence. Of course, I spoke to Priyadarshini Mattoo. But there is no reason why I should favour the accused.”

“The aggrieved party may not have liked something I said or did. But an aggrieved person is likely to misunderstand everyoneelse because of his condition,” he added.

When contacted, ACP Satinder Nath, now posted with the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi Police, denied having anything to do with the Mattoo case.

NOVEMBER 6, 1995

What happened: On November 6, 1995, Santosh Kumar Singh allegedly caught hold of Priyadarshini Mattoo’s arm at the DU Law Centre. “He harassed me at the campus law centre,” wrote Mattoo in her complaint at the Maurice Nagar police station.

This incident happened despite the fact that a personal security officer (head constable Rajinder Kumar of Vasant Kunj police station) had already been assigned to her on October 27, 1995. The PSO had been assigned after Mattoo met the police commissioner and DCP (southwest) accusing Santosh of harassing her.

A case of “eve-teasing” was registered against Santosh Kumar Singh under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code at the Maurice Nagar police station. This time round, Santosh Kumar Singh was arrested — to be set free minutes later. As“eve-teasing” under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code is a bailable offence, the police released Singh after he submitted a personal bond.

JANUARY 23, 1996

Priyadarshini Mattoo was found murdered. The PSO was suspended for not showing up for duty on time at the Mattoo residence.

As the police did not take Priyadarshini’s complaints of harassment seriously, ASJ Thareja has said: “The subordinate officials avoided taking action which was directed by the law just to please a superior officer — the father of the accused, IPS officer J P Singh.”