BARIPADA: Saturday was another usual summer day. Braving the blistering heat, 24-year old Bikram Biruli set out with his pregnant wife on his bike to Udala Sub Divisional Hospital. The distance between Madkam Sahi (in Kaptipada block) where he lives and the hospital is about 45 km but he had no option.
A post peon at Bhadrak, Bikram was visiting his place to see his father and take wife Gurubari for a health check up. The 27-year-old woman is nine months into her first pregnancy.
The nearest health facility Bikram could access is at Sarat, a New PHC located 9 km from Madkam Sahi but it does not have ultrasound facility, he said. Though an MBBS doctor is posted at the New PHC, non-existent facilities force patients to go to private clinics and government-run hospitals in Udala and Kaptipada.
Bikram too had no other choice but to take Gurubari on bike to Udala. “I have done that in the past because basic scanning facilities are not available in Sarat,” he said. Five kilometers into their drive, the couple was intercepted at Begunia Chowk by OIC of Sarat police station Rina Baksal and other policemen. Bikram had his helmet on but Gurubari did not wear one. She was wearing her facemask though.
What happened next grabbed headlines as the police officer was insistent on fine to be paid in cash and took Bikram in a vehicle to Sarat police station. His fault was he did not carry enough cash and wanted to pay online but the cop would not just listen. Taking the pleading husband away was not, as if, bad enough, the cops left the pregnant woman at the spot and did not even entertain her request to be taken along with her husband. Then she walked - the arduous most three kilometers in her life.
“I requested the policemen to take me with my husband to the police station but they left me on the road. I was forced to reach the police station on foot with no money and mobile phone with me,” she told TNIE. Though autorickshaws were plying, Gurubari had no money with her. She just had a water bottle to keep her safe. In the scorching heat of the noon hours, no one came forward to help her either.
Bikram said he had pleaded with the policemen too but they would just not believe him. At the police station, he was made to sit on the floor. His mobile phone was taken away only to be returned later when he called his parents to bring cash to pay the fine. After the ordeal was over, Bikram brought his wife to Udala around 4 pm and got her checked up in a private clinic apprehending that doctors may not be present at Udala Sub-Divisional Hospital due to Dola Purnima celebration. With media picking up the story, Mayurbhanj SP ordered an inquiry and basing on the report, he suspended the OIC. Later, two constables were also transferred but it was described as a routine affair.
Cops hit trader for not wearing helmet, face disciplinary action
Baripada: In the second instance of police brutality, a businessman of Karanjia was assaulted by cops for not slowing down at a check point. Under pressure, Mayurbhanj SP Parmar Smit Parshottamdas on Tuesday suspended a constable and dismissed a home guard of Karanjia police station. The businessman was identified as Sk Altoma who was on way to Karanjia town to meet a friend on his motorcycle when police intercepted him near Saharapada bypass for not wearing a helmet. He reportedly first slowed down before trying to speed away.
On seeing Altoma trying to flee, the police personnel tried to stop the violator with their sticks. Altoma was hit on his head and bled when he stopped the vehicle. As the news spread, tension flared up in the town as hundreds of locals gathered at the spot and pelted stones at the policemen. The irate locals demanded immediate action against the cop involved in the attack on Altoma. They said if people are breaking the traffic rule, they should be fined and the police have no authority to beat someone for violating the law.
Later, the agitators reached Karanjia police station and demanded action against the two policemen named in Altoma’s complaint. Basing on the victim’s FIR, an investigation was carried out and the two errant cops suspended. The incident comes a day after OIC of Sarat police station Rina Baksal was suspended for making a nine-month pregnant woman walk 3 km after she was found riding the pillion with her husband without a helmet.