India’s first woman police officer, Kiran Bedi, has announced that she is retiring after 35 years in the job.
The decision comes almost four months after she expressed disappointment over denial of the post of Delhi Police Commissioner to her.
India’s first woman police officer, seen as a symbol of empowerment in a male-dominated society, said on Tuesday she was quitting, months after a junior male colleague was chosen ahead of her for a top job.
Kiran Bedi, known as a tough, no-nonsense officer who spoke her mind, said she had applied for voluntary retirement two years ahead of schedule, to pursue academic and social interests.
Her decision came after she was bypassed for the role of Delhi’s police chief, one of India’s most prestigious police posts.
At the time Bedi lashed out at the government saying she may have been overlooked because, as a woman, she did not have “booze friends”, arguing appointments were being made on how good officers were at “networking”.
On Tuesday though, she said the time had come to “move on”.
“I want to focus on my academic, spiritual and social interests more,” Bedi told reporters. “My 35 years of service has been totally fulfilling.”
There was no immediate comment from the federal Home Ministry on her request for early retirement.
One of India’s most recognised faces, Bedi has a larger-than-life image in a country where police are mostly perceived as inefficient or corrupt or both.
An Asian and national tennis champion before she made it to the Indian Police Service in 1972, Bedi has worked in traffic and narcotics control, prison management and was also an adviser to the U.N.’s peacekeeping operations.
CONTROVERSY
She shot to fame in the early 1980s when she was responsible for the unthinkable act of having the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s car towed away for illegal parking while Gandhi was out of the country.
As head of Delhi’s Tihar jail, one of Asia’s largest, she introduced yoga, meditation and literacy classes for prisoners as part of a reform programme that drew global notice.
Bedi broke the mould in a country where many women, particularly in the countryside, continue to be discriminated against and harassed.
Her life was also partially adapted to create a TV series that became popular on national television. Today, more women serve in the armed forces and in senior corporate, media and government positions.
Local media reports said Bedi was denied the Delhi police chief job because she had been out of active policing for about 20 years.
Bedi was also accused of leaking information to journalists, instigating her juniors to rebel and insubordination, columnist Karan Thapar wrote in the Hindustan Times in August.
Bedi did not respond publicly to the column, but she has said in the past that decision-making in the police force was a controversial business, and the only way one could avoid that was not to take a decision.
