To police officers and to the public, people must go right away. Police are the ones who represent the public in Jaunpur and, even more so, not the ones who should be doing everything. When people who wear a uniform abuse their power, it is fear that leads to not safety. A very tragic incident has stirred up questions of police practices and accountability in UP and India. A policeman known as Anupam Singh harassed a woman publicly at a very routine car check. While her brother and sister came forward and helped, too, they were also beaten by police when they approached her.
Witness accounts show that the police stopped the woman during vehicle checks. Obviously not taking his car inspection thoroughly, he immediately began bothering her. She became violent soon after that encounter. With no respect for life and human rights, the officer slapped and hit her in public, it occurred with complete indifference, it is reported that she was not treated in a safe manner while she was still in the car.
When her brother and sister rushed to protect her, they too were attacked by the policeman. Police brutality against them was unwarranted and unduly done, they said.
And the situation has enraged residents there. People in India as a whole, many feel that the police are becoming much more feared than the criminals. Many citizens don’t want to ask the police for help just because they risk harassment instead of protection from the police.
All in all social media users jumped in too demanding that an officer be punished harshly. Citizens and other organizations have also raised their heads and asked for police to face some accountability and change in their tactics.
The case does not seem to be unique. Reports of police brutality, harassment and misuse of authority are starting to arrive from India throughout the world and at many levels of that country. Instead of enforcing the law, policemen act as bullies who corrode the trust that citizens have in the system.
Experts say that these kinds of incidents are the basis for serious police reform measures: To do it, you would need sensitivity, respect for human rights and accountability (especially as training is also important). Stiff disciplinary actions against guilty officers should not only restore public confidence in police officers.
The Jaunpur instance shows that unchecked power can turn protectors into oppressors. The police are to be treated as the ones serving people, not terrorizing them. Civilians are no longer going to look at police as their allies, in any case. We need to see justice that is not only for a single officer but we also need to send a message that cruelty is not tolerated in the uniform.
