Sreelekha IPS stirs up controversy over sexual harassment in police force

Kochi: Former Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre R Sreelekha has kicked up a storm in the state following her allegations of widespread sexual harassment of women police officers in the state. The IPS officer alleged that she had to intervene to save a woman officer from the predatory advances of a senior DIG officer.

In her interview to Manorama News, the first female DGP officer from Kerala spoke candidly about the gender discrimination and harassment faced by women police officers in the Kerala cadre, not just by her juniors but also by herself.

"I heard that a DGP, who was in office when I was going to join the force in the state, said that a woman was coming to pollute 'our department'. I have also heard a lot of abusive words from male colleagues. They'd make anonymous phone calls and shout abuses but I can recognise the voices," Sreelekha was quoted as saying.

She also said that she faced harassment and disobedience from officers of all ranks in the first ten years of service, which she attributed to her being a woman officer in a high position of power, stating that it would not have happened if she was a man.

Media rumours about her personal life were also a factor in this gender-based harassment, Sreelekha recalled, saying that the rumours were so vitriolic that it could have ended anyone else's marriage. It was an unspoken attitude in the force that a woman officer should not be too successful, she said.

However the Kerala Police Association has dismissed her allegations, asking her to be more responsible with her words as they could affect the families of the women officers. In a Facebook post, C R Biju, the general secretary of the Kerala Police Officers Association, asked what Sreelekha had done to reduce harassment while she was in the force.

"Madam (Sreelekha) has said that a DIG had mistreated a woman sub-inspector. The question remains as to what action madam took. Even if such an event had taken place, we would be convinced that it had taken place in the early 1990s. If there is any basis for this statement, Madam was irresponsible in covering it up," Biju wrote.

He also asked her not to issue a blanket condemnation of the entire police force and they were working day and night to ensure the welfare and safety of people in Kerala.

"There are situations where woman police officers are called to the stations even in the middle of the night for cases in which their presence is unavoidable...madam had to keep in mind that such allegations could possibly adversely affect the families of female police officers. I would like to proudly say that the women officers of the Kerala Police have the courage to face such situations," he added.

Sreelekha's comments on harassment of women in the force have been backed up by Vinaya NA, SI, Women's Cell, Thrissur Rural, who told The News Minute that she had faced the same attitude from male officers, including being summoned to go to a male officers quarters alone, subject to flirtatious calls from a Deputy Superintendent of Police and also being called derogatory names.

"One should also count the harassment involved in the things they say to you, the lewd comments and language used against you...I have been called 'thalle' (a derogatory term for 'mother' in Malayalam) and many other vulgar terms," Vinaya told TNM, adding that even when she complained, no action was taken.

"There was a DySP who would keep calling to flirt with me when I would be on duty, on the way to arrest someone. One DySP asked me, 'are we not men?' and I said I didn't think so. So I believe Sreelekha madam a hundred percent when she says there is sexual harassment in the police force. There are many victims within the force but no one would speak out," Vinaya said.