RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh government has taken cognizance of a rape complaint by a woman against an IAS officer and issued a directive to initiate a high-level probe on Thursday.
A 2007-batch IAS officer Janak Pathak, a former Janjgir-Champa collector who was transferred as commissioner of land records on May 27, was suspended following the complaint. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel instructed the chief secretary to conduct an investigation by a high-level team against the officer.
The woman in her early thirties has alleged that she was raped by the IAS officer while he was Janjgir-Champa collector in his office about a month ago.
According to the Janjgir-Champa police, the woman personally approached the district, SP Parul Mathur, with her written complaint. The survivor, who is associated with an NGO, stated that Pathak called her to her office in the pretext of offering some works to her organisation and sexually abused her in the collectorate premises.
In her complaint, she claimed that the bureaucrat even threatened to dismiss her husband from government service if she doesn’t yield to his demand.
Explaining the delay of the complaint, the woman narrated that she could muster the courage of lodging the grievance against the collector only after he was transferred. She believed that his influence might then relegate her complaint “weak and ineffective” and even get rejected. Despite repeated attempts, the IAS officer couldn’t be reached.
The survivor produced supporting evidences following which the Janjgir-Champa police registered the case against Pathak under IPC Sections 376 (committing rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
“A case has been registered against former collector and the complainant has supported her complaint with the evidences. Further investigation will be carried out”, Janjgir-Champa SP said.
Pathak is the second Chhattisgarh IAS officer booked for rape. Earlier, M R Sarthi, a former Jashpur collector, was sentenced to 7-year imprisonment in 2012 for sexually exploiting a government employee.