Who is Ronald Merrick from The Jewel in the Crown and what is their importance?

Ronald Merrick is the District Superintendent of Police for the Mayapore district. Merrick is a handsome young man with an officious manner. He is attracted to Daphne Manners and asks her to marry him, a proposal she declines. He is jealous of Hari Kumar, who has Daphne's attention, and tries to dissuade her from seeing him. It is Merrick who has Kumar arrested after Daphne's rape. According to one story told afterward, Merrick has Kumar tortured in an attempt to make him confess to organizing the attack. According to Daphne, Merrick plants her bicycle near Hari's home in an attempt to implicate him.