Lucknow, May 10 (IBNS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said strict action would be taken against a top-ranking police official, who was allegedly caught openly advocating honour killings in the north Indian state.
"If that is the statement then I can say it is a very wrong statement. If what has been shown on TV channels is correct then strict actions will be taken," Yadav told reporters.
"If a person sitting on such a crucial position cannot understand the seriousness of that post, then strict actions should be taken against him," he said.
Satish Kumar Mathur, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Saharanpur Range was reportedly caught on camera saying that if his sister ever eloped he would kill her or commit suicide.
Mathur made the shocking statement when he was on an inspection of police stations in the Prabudh Nagar district and met a man whose daughter had supposedly eloped.
“This is a matter of great shame," The DIG said when the father of the girl, Shaukeen Mohammad, a resident of Kaserwa village, sought help to find his missing daughter.
Mohammad’s 14-year-old daughter was allegedly abducted one-and-a-half-month ago by the goons in his village.
When he went to seek help from Mathur to find his daughter, the police officer snapped: “I don't have magical power to recover your daughter.”
“If your daughter had eloped then you should be ashamed of it and end your life. I would have committed suicide or killed my sister if she had eloped," he said.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) called for Mathur's suspension.
"The statement of the DIG is irresponsible and he must be suspended immediately. Is this what they are being taught in the police force? This is very disturbing. The DIG should be suspended without further ado," NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma was quoted as saying.
Honor killings have been reported in northern regions of India, mainly in the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, as a result of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion.
Even though there are no official figures, an independent study in 2010 suggested as many as 900 honour killings were carried out every year by orders of khap panchayats, or informal village courts, in north Indian states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Lashing out at the practice in strongest terms, the Supreme Court last year ordered strict punishment for police officials and bureaucrats who fail to deal with the menace, saying that officials who fail to check them should be prosecuted.
