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

Ronald Merrick is Mayapore's District Superintendent of Police. Merrick is discribed as a handsome man, who is romantically interested in Daphne Manners. Daphne, however, doesn't share his interest and rejects his proposal of marriage. Merrick is responsible for Kumar's arrest and torture after Daphne is raped. We never learn Merrick's ultimate fate.