The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday evening suspended five policemen including Hathras superintendent of police (SP), Vikrant Vir over inept handling of the gangrape and death of the 19-year-old Dalit woman that has triggered nationwide protests.

The suspension came hours after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath vowed ‘exemplary punishment’ for the culprits that would be remembered by future generations. Narco polygraph tests of SP and DSP will also be conducted, the UP Chief Minister’s Office said.

CM Yogi said his government is committed to women’s safety and those who even think of harming their self-respect will face complete destruction.

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“Total destruction of those who even think of harming the self respect of women in UP is inevitable,” Adityanath said in a tweet in Hindi.

Such people will get exemplary punishment that would be remembered by future generations, he said.

“They will get such a punishment that it will set an example. The UP government is committed to the safety and development of mothers and daughters,” CM Yogi Adityanath said, adding that “this is our resolve and promise.”

Earlier, the station house officer (SHO) of Chandpa police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, under whose jurisdiction the 19-year-old Dalit woman was gangraped, was transferred to the district police lines for his “failure to promptly act” in the case.

However, some former bureaucrats like Anil Swarup felt that the action against cops was necessitated because of “overindulgence to please someone” as this practice doesn’t pay in the long run.

The police was accused of not taking the gangrape seriously. Initially, it lodged a case of physical assault against the Dalit woman, converted it into a case of rape on basis of her statement before a magistrate. Even her samples were picked up 11 days after the alleged rape.

Even after death, the Hathras district administration forcibly ‘cremated’ the body in dead of the night despite vehement protests by the victims family members. This enraged the entire nation. The media and the opposition demanded action against both DM Hathras Pravin Kumar and the SP.