GUNTUR: Friendly-policing is a favourite theme of police top brass at public events, but the situation at the ground level seems to be different. Proving this point, a head constable slippered a woman at Nagarampalem Police Station late on Sunday night. As the news went viral on social media, the district police placed the constable under suspension. Police said the woman was beaten up with a rubber hunter and not a slipper.
The head constable, M Venkateswarlu, reportedly brought six sex workers to the police station after a raid at Venkatappaiah Colony in Guntur on Sunday night and warned them against carrying out illegal activities in residential areas. This led to an argument between the constable and one of the women and he thrashed her with a slipper. Two women police personnel were also present at the station when the incident took place.
As the issue went viral, CI Y Sridhar Reddy reported the matter to higher officials. Sridhar Reddy said Venkateswarlu was on duty at that time and had conducted a raid based on credible information and registered a case under Sections 3 and 4 of the Immoral Trafficking Act.
When contacted, DSP P Sowmya Latha clarified that the woman was beaten with a rubber hunter, not a slipper. “We have enquired with sub-inspector Rajasree, constable Merry and other staff at the police station and submitted a report to Guntur urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao.The head constable has been suspended,” she said.