|
Chandigarh: She fought robbers as a 10-year-old in
2000 and got a national bravery award from the prime minister for
it after her brave act led to the gang being busted. But when she
came face to face with police after her SUV was stolen in Chandigarh recently, Heena Bakshi finds herself on the wrong side
of law after being slapped with a criminal case.
Bakshi, 22, a resident of Panchkula town adjoining Chandigarh, is
facing the heat from an over-zealous Chandigarh Police which has
slapped a case against her under various sections of the
Information Technology (IT) Act after she posted "abusive" and
"objectionable" comments on police functioning in the city.
Daughter of a serving army colonel, who is posted in Ladakh,
Bakshi, frustrated by the Chandigarh Police's inaction in tracing
her stolen SUV, posted her comments on the Facebook page of the
Chandigarh Traffic Police.
"My white Safari registration number CH-O3R-0808 was stolen from
outside my friend's house in Sector 18.....you people kill us with
your 'nakas' n check points. Harassing us if we are just driving
around at night. When we are driving our own cars bought with our
own money. But you have no f****n clue when somebody steals that
car from under your eyes n vanishes into the blue!! What policing
are u ppl doing?? U challan our a**es outa. I want to know a u are
the freakin authoritiesa I am a respectable citizen paying my
taxes n driving by the rules n not breaking the law....The police
started questioning me aif I was making this whole shit up or if
someone actually stole it?? Why don't you catch the real culprits
n bring them to justice rather than screwing our lives with your
stupid worthless policing? Who stole my car from under your
noses??"
What upset Bakshi, as per her comments, was that lower rung police
officials started questioning her about her stolen SUV instead of
giving her any information about their own efforts to trace the
vehicle.
"Her comments on Facebook were out of frustration and were general
in nature. She did not intend to be abusive to anyone in
particular. Police found one particular word objectionable,"
Bakshi's father, Col.P. Bakshi, who specially flew down from Leh
to sort out the matter after police slapped a case against here,
said at his house in Panchkula's Mansa Devi complex area.
Col. Bakshi said that he had met senior Chandigarh Police officers
Monday in this regard.
However, the Chandigarh Police, under fire from society and media
for harassing the young woman instead of improving policing and
lowering the city's crime rate, especially car thefts and
snatchings, is unwilling to admit its mistake in hurriedly
registering a case against Bakshi.
"The matter is under investigation. We will look at all aspects,"
Chandigarh's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Naunihal Singh
told media Tuesday, before walking off when asked a probing
question regarding police over-doing in Bakshi's case.
Many in the city believe that the Chandigarh Police are going
overboard.
"Police, instead of tracing Henna's car and checking the
increasing crime rate in Chandigarh, are busy registering cases
and harassing common people like her. Senior police officers are
busy only attending evening parties and playing golf," a senior
city-based lawyer told IANS.
As a 10-year-old child, Bakshi had received the Geeta Chopra
national bravery award from the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee after she had caught hold of a robber inside her house in
Haryana's Ambala Cantt, 45 km from here.
The bravery award, its citation and a photograph of Henna
receiving it from Vajpayee adorns the wall of the living room in
her house here, even as her worried parents hope that she gets out
of the present situation.
Henna has been booked under sections 66-A and 67 of the IT Act,
punishable with a jail term of more than two years and are non-bailable.
The sections deal with abusive language and obscene content on the
Internet.
|
Comments
|
Quick links