Tripura Police Officers Suspended Over Failure to File Victim's FIR

Agartala: Tripura authorities suspended two police officers from the Airport Police Station for refusing to register a victim's complaint. The officer-in-charge and a woman sub-inspector failed to act on a widow's report of a domestic dispute. The victim, Lipika Lodh, claimed her daughter-in-law assaulted her and tried to evict her from her home. She filed the complaint roughly one month ago.

Instead of filing an FIR for the cognisable offence, the officers allegedly detained the woman. They pressured her to drop the case. The sub-inspector allegedly threatened the widow with "dire consequences" if she did not withdraw her complaint. The woman later went to the Superintendent of Police for West Tripura, Namit Pathak, but got no relief. She then took her case to the Tripura High Court.

The state government informed the High Court on Thursday that the officers were suspended. The sub-inspector faced suspension on July 29 for gross misconduct and wilful negligence. An FIR has now been registered. The court ordered police to protect the victim. Purushottam Roy Barman, the petitioner's lawyer, noted, "In an affidavit submitted before the high court, the state government informed on Thursday that two police officers had been suspended and an FIR had also been registered based on the victim's complaint." Police deployed two officers to the victim's home to ensure her safety.