Noida Two Noida police officers – a station house officer (SHO) and a sub-inspector – were suspended for failing to include sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act and the SC/ST Act in a rape case registered on March 17, officials said on Thursday.
The omission occurred despite the complainant’s allegations of religious conversion and casteist remarks, police said. Also, a clarification has been sought from deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida) Shakti Mohan Awasthi, and a preliminary inquiry has been initiated against assistant commissioner of police Umesh Yadav.
The suspended officers were identified as SHO Punit Kumar and sub-inspector Preeti Gupta of the Phase 3 Police Station.
The case in question was registered based on a complaint by a 24-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh working at a private company in Noida. She alleged that a 26-year-old man from MP, whom she met through social media two years ago, entered a live-in relationship with her without revealing his religion and raped her on the pretext of marriage. When she pressed for marriage, he allegedly demanded she convert and later extorted money before fleeing.
The FIR was initially registered under Sections 69, 351, and 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Following a protest by right-wing activists outside the police station, authorities reviewed the case and found the relevant conversion and SC/ST provisions missing.
Additional deputy commissioner of Police Rajendra Kumar Gautam confirmed the suspect remains at large, with two teams formed to apprehend him. The inquiry has been entrusted to ADCP Noida.
