Human rights official suspended over 'assault'

ASI Aisha alleges in-charge Maria beat her; SSP orders investigation into 'gross misconduct'

HYDERABAD:

The female head of the Human Rights Cell at SSP Hyderabad's office has been suspended after allegedly assaulting a female police officer at the city's Women Police Station. The incident reportedly took place on November 27 and stemmed from the cell in-charge Maria Sario's suspicions regarding her husband.

The district's SSP Adeel Hussain Chandio on Thursday suspended Maria Sario for 'gross misconduct'. Although a junior clerk by designation, she was made to head the Human Rights Cell in the province's second-largest city, often seen attending meetings with other government officers of senior positions.

Sario's husband Naveed Samejo is a senior clerk in the same office. According to ASI Aisha Shaikh, Sario blamed her for trying to tie a marital knot with her husband. The ASI said she recently joined the police force after securing a top position in the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) conducted recruitment exam.

She told that after her joining she was posted at the Women Police Station on Autobahn Road. "On that day I received a call at Women Police Station and Maria asked me to come to her office. When I reached there, my mobile phone was snatched and my password was also taken."

She alleged that some minutes later Sario came out of her office room and slapped her four to five times in front of other staff. "I was in such a shock that I passed my urine and my younger brother was accompanying me when this happened," the ASI narrated in a video statement.

Shaikh has also written an application to the SSP to start an investigation and to provide her CCTV footage of the office as recorded on November 27. She stated that she wanted to use the footage in her complaint against Sario. "The footage is crucial evidence to investigate misconduct, harassment, and public assault."