On 5th September, a video from Aurangabad, Bihar, went viral on social media in which former Deputy General of Police (DGP), former MLA and former governor Nikhil Kumar was seen shouting at young IPS officer ASP Sweety Sehrawat asking why she refused to meet him at her residence.
The viral video has divided social media into two sections. While one supports Sweety Sehrawat, saying she has the right to have a personal space at her residence and not see visitors, the other section claims the police officers or public servants are supposed to be on duty 24×7 and Sweety Sehrawat was wrong and disrespectful to a former senior officer and governor.
What happened at ASP’s residence?
According to reports, Kumar attempted to contact ASP Sehrawat on her office phone but was unsuccessful. He wanted to discuss the increase in reports of thefts in the area with her. Instead of going to her office, Kumar went to her residence early in the morning with the victims and other individuals. Reports indicate that when he sent someone to call ASP outside, the security personnel at her residence informed them that she was getting ready.
After approximately 45 minutes, at around 10 AM, ASP exited her residence and proceeded straight to her vehicle to go to the office. A person who accompanied Kumar rushed to stop her and informed her that Kumar wished to speak with her. ASP informed him that her residence was her personal space and that Kumar could meet her at her office. This irked Kumar, who then decided to lecture her on the matter.
In a video shared by X (formerly Twitter) user Utkarsh Singh, Seherawat asked Kumar to calm down as he appeared agitated. When she told him that there was no need to use the tone he was using, Kumar responded, “I will talk like this only.”
The ASP is seen calmly saying that she had informed everyone that she would meet them all at her office. Kumar angrily asked, “Why don’t you meet here?” She responded, “I have my personal space,” Kumar retorted, “That’s wrong.” Kumar claimed that as an IPS officer, it was her duty to meet people day and night. Seherawat said that if he had informed her, she would have gone to the office 30 minutes earlier, which further angered Kumar.
Kumar asked her what preventive measures she had taken to stop thefts in the region and what steps had been taken on the cases that had already been reported. She responded, “Let’s go to the office.” However, Kumar continued to insist on speaking to her outside her residence. Kumar was also seen using a strong, loud tone and pointing fingers at the young officer.
Interestingly, the victim who came with Kumar agreed that ASP had not only met with him every time in the office but also changed the investigation officer on the victim’s request. Throughout the interaction, ASP Sweety Sehrawat calmly tried to convince Kumar that the case the victim referred to occurred before she took charge. There were some issues with collecting evidence during the previous IO’s tenure, which the new IO attempted to rectify, and the investigation was ongoing.
When she mentioned that patrolling had been increased, another individual claimed no patrolling was in his area at night. Interestingly, he had never informed ASP, and when she questioned why she was not informed, he responded, “What would change if I had informed you? I came with bhaiya ji” (points at Kumar). Kumar signalled him to be quiet. Kumar claimed he was “horribly provoked” to come to her residence and talk to her.
The ASP suggested that if she had not acted on the victim’s complaint she was ready to face the consequences. Another victim who was robbed during her tenure claimed that action had not been taken. ASP stated that a special team had been formed to investigate the matter, and the investigation was ongoing. Towards the end, Kumar claimed that she had to be on duty round the clock.
The debate around personal space
The incident divided social media into two sections. While one is in favor of personal space, the second group claimed public servants are not entitled to one.
Senior IPS officer Arun Bothra said, “Police officers are supposed to be on 24×7 duty. They are expected to meet people at their residences. But this applies to emergency situations. In cases of sudden law & order or heinous crimes. Not political delegations followed by cameramen and aiming at elections.”
X user Manish Gawde said there was nothing wrong with what ASP said. He further questioned what the emergency was that they formed a group and went to her residence.
X user Ananmika said ASP deserves immense respect for staying calm during the conversation. “They are individuals who also require personal space, not just robots in uniform,” she added.
X user Bewaakbaatein pointed out she was polite and answered in a good way. “She is correct that she has a personal life as well,” he said.
X user Sam said, “The demonstration of maturity, calmness, and especially GRACE by the young IPS officer is simply commendable!”
X user Satiish Kumar said, “Nikhil Kumar’s decision to visit the officer’s house seems questionable. Given that there was no emergency or life-threatening situation, it may have been unnecessary. It’s important to respect everyone’s personal boundaries.”
While there were some sensible voices, many X users made comments that raised questions about the sense of entitlement of the public itself.
X user Pragath Shukla claimed as her residence was built with public money, the public could enter her residence and even the washroom.
X user Divya Kanwar said, “No, she’s wrong. Bringing procedures in place is meaningless when the output result is zero. They mention that five burglaries occurred within the same area at the same time, and they’ve been forced to come to her residence because they fear for their safety. She’s instead merely telling that she has followed the procedure, met you, so and so but with no end result. That’s ineffectiveness. That’s like I logged in and filed your complaint but system wasn’t working, so what more I can do.”
X user Stallion questioned if the personal space rule applies to soldiers at LOC. Maybe he does not know duties change at LOC after every few hours to ensure the soldiers are well rested.
X user Ayush Singh claimed IAS IPS officers do not have personal space. If they need it, people will come to their house. He then claimed that the residence she got was not to have fun and called her an “officer with ‘two kaudi’ attitude.”
Every person in any field has the right to have personal space. No person can work 24×7 without rest. Otherwise, they will burn out and make mistakes while performing duty. Going by the video, the matter was not urgent, and there was no need to visit her residence. The concerned individuals could have met the officer in her office to discuss their problems.