Gujarat police constable Sunita Yadav is the talk of the town for resisting bullying by a state minister’s son who was violating curfew in Surat on July 8. Due to the way she handled the situation she was labelled ‘Lady Singham’ a reference from the popular Bollywood film Singham.
In an interview with India Today, Yadav said, “I am no Lady Singham. I am a simple LR officer [Lok Rakshak Dal]. I just did my duty. People say this because not too many [cops] have done this. But it feels nice when people say that.”
She said, “Earlier I thought power lies in the khaki [the police uniform]. The incident has taught that it lies in the rank. So, I want to prepare for the IPS. I want to come back with rank. This issue could have been resolved easily. It is being stretched like a chewing gum because I don’t have a rank.”
Recalling the incident, Yadav said she had noticed some people going somewhere in a vehicle during the curfew. She asked them to stop to know the reason behind their movement.
She added, “Movement is allowed during curfew for genuine reasons. But these people did not have a genuine reason. They apologised to me saying ‘sorry’. I thought of letting them go unpunished but as per law, I had to do something. I had no challan slip, so I thought a few situps would be enough for their violation of the law.”
However, things got heated up when Gujarat Health Minister Kumar Kanani’s son, Prakash Karani reached the spot and harassed the constable for stopping his friends.
A video of the incident surfaced online and later, Yadav shared a clip on social media where she said she under pressure and was on the receiving end of abuses and threats. She was provided protection by the police and also transferred out of the police station. Later, she resigned. It is still not certain if the police department has accepted the resignation.
She said, “Minister’s son comes into the scene and tells me who he is. If they feel VVIP [entitlement then] our system is responsible to some extent. The public is responsible because we treat them as VVIP.”
Yadav wants to be an IPS. She added, “Right now, I am under so much of stress that I cannot think of anything. Becoming an IPS was my goal even earlier. I wanted to be an Army officer but I could not become one for some reasons.”
She also said if she cannot crack the civil services exam, she will opt for a career in law or journalism.
