Senior TN IPS officer convicted for sexual harassment of junior

Villupuram (TN): A court here on Friday convicted and sentenced suspended IPS officer Rajesh Das in a 2021 sensational sexual harassment case involving a woman subordinate official.

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) M Pushparani sentenced Das to three years imprisonment and slapped a total fine of Rs 20,500 on him.

The case was probed by the Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police and the investigation agency had also booked Chengalpattu SP Kannan, who had allegedly stopped the woman while proceeding to Chennai to file a complaint against Das.

The CJM levied Rs 500 fine on Kannan. The court, however, granted Das bail and 30 days’ time to go for appeal.

He was charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code including sexual harassment, besides those of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Women Harassment Act.

The woman Superintendent of Police had accused Das of sexually harassing her in early 2021, when he was Special Director General of Police (Law and Order). Initially, Das was put on ‘compulsory wait’ and ‘downgraded’ by the Tamil Nadu government, before he was placed under suspension.