Sexual harassment case: POCSO Act sections added to FIR against suspended Phillaur SHO
the suspended Phillaur station house officer (SHO), who was booked for alleged inappropriate behaviour and making sexual advances towards the mother of a minor rape victim 10 days ago.
The Jalandhar (rural) police have added sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to the first information report (FIR) against sub-inspector Bhushan Kumar, the suspended Phillaur station house officer (SHO), who was booked for alleged inappropriate behaviour and making sexual advances towards the mother of a minor rape victim 10 days ago.
The case was initially registered on October 14 under Section 74(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures), Section 67(d) of the Punjab Police Act (sexual harassment in the course of duty), and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act at the Phillaur police station.
Both the Punjab State Women Commission and the Punjab State Child Rights Protection Commission had taken cognisance of the incident and written to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jalandhar (rural) seeking stricter action under the POCSO Act.
SSP Harvinder Singh Virk confirmed that a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the case. “The SIT is investigating the matter in detail, and necessary legal sections have been added,” he said.
Kumar was earlier transferred and suspended after alleged audio and video clips surfaced on social media, purportedly showing him making inappropriate advances towards the mother of a rape victim and another woman. In one of the clips, he was allegedly pressuring the victim’s mother to meet him alone. HT couldn’t independently verify the veracity of the audio clips.
The controversy stems from an incident reported on October 5, when the family of a 14-year-old girl approached Phillaur police to register a rape case against an 18-year-old neighbour, accused of sexually assaulting the minor on the intervening night of August 23 and 24.
According to the complaint, the family alleged that the SHO refused to file the FIR and discouraged the medical examination, insisting that “no sexual assault had occurred”. The case was formally registered only after local social activists intervened and brought the matter to the attention of senior police officials.
