Punjab, February 24: A woman IAS officer here has been booked by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for allegedly slapping a four-year-old girl who had accidentally caused an auto-rickshaw to scratch her car, officials said here on Wednesday.
Sujata Dass, a 1978-batch Punjab-cadre IAS officer who is posted as Secretary, Vigilance Inquiries, Punjab, had allegedly slapped the nursery class student in full public view.
Returning from school
The child was returning from school in an auto-rickshaw when the incident took place. The auto-rickshaw driver stopped the vehicle in the Sector 38 market to drop a child and stepped out with the ignition on. In the meantime Ms. Dass, who stays here in Sector 39, reached there in her official Honda City car. The child accidentally pulled the gear lever and the auto-rickshaw banged the rear door of the car. An infuriated Ms. Dass came out and thrashed the child.
Compromise
Following this, the child’s father reached the police station to lodge a complaint but a compromise was struck between the two parties as Ms. Dass apologised.
The child is a nursery student at Delhi Public School in Sector 40 here.
However, a city-based NGO filed a complaint against the officer with NCPCR.
“A public servant cannot indulge in such incidents. This is a clear violation of the code of conduct and we would take an appropriate action. We have also sent a notice to Punjab Government and sought a reply from them,” said a senior official of NCPCR.
—-Agencies