Lucknow: The troubles for Priyadarshini, a young woman accused of beating up a cab driver in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, may have increased, but she could not be arrested yet.
This is because the charge sheet that has been filed in court against her is only under the sections of assault and threatening. The allegation of robbery against the girl was not found to be true. Hence, the section of robbery was removed from the trial. Since the sections under which the charge sheet has been filed carry a punishment of less than seven years in prison, according to law, she cannot be arrested.
It may be mentioned that on the night of July 30, Priyadarshini Narayan rained cab driver Saadat Ali with 22 slaps, accusing him of hitting her at Bara Birwa intersection in Krishnanagar area of the city. Though the video of the incident went viral on social media, surprisingly, the police vented their anger on the cab driver by challaning him and putting him in the lockup.
Not only this, Saadat's brother Inayat and friend Dawood, who came to help him, were also caught and challaned. The SUV of the SDM of Etah, an acquaintance of the brother, was also stopped.
Also read: Lucknow police to not arrest girl accused of slapping cab driver
However, on the recommendation of the SDM, the Krishnanagar police released the SUV after allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. In order to avoid trouble when the bribery case was opened, Inspector Mahesh Dubey and Sub-inspector Hirendra Yadav clashed with each other. Later, Police Commissioner DK Thakur sent two sub-inspectors, along with the inspector, to the police line for dereliction of duty. The investigation of the whole matter was handed over to Banthra Inspector Jitendra Pratap Singh.
The Banthra Inspector has now registered a case in this connection at Krishnanagar Kotwali. The investigator recorded the statements of about 15 people along with those of Saadat and Priyadarshini.
Singh said that the allegations of robbery against Priyadarshini have not been found to be true in this case.The charge sheet that has been filed against Priyadarshini is under Sections 323, 504, 506 and 427 of the IPC. Priyadarshini will not be arrested because punishment for this carries a prison-term of of less than seven years in this. However, she has been served with a notice.
Also read: Woman thrashes cab driver in the middle of the road in Lucknow
Meanwhile, the woman has objected to information against her in front of the police officers and news about the incident circulating in social media. She said that this has tarnished her and and her family's image.
Stating that she has fully cooperated in the police investigation of the case, she said that truth will eventually come out.
