The voice of domestic help Bindu R, who was a victim of illegal detention and caste harassment at Perurkada police station, is now echoing across Kerala, the Chief Minister called the case unacceptable.
Thiruvananthapuram: The process of recording the statement of Dalit woman Bindu R, who was a victim of illegal detention and mental harassment at Perurkada police station, is getting delayed. The reason for this is that the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed that the presence of a woman lawyer appointed by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) will be mandatory while recording the statement.
After this direction, Crime Branch DYSP K.A. Vidyadharan has written a letter to the Secretary of Thiruvananthapuram DLSA demanding the appointment of a woman lawyer as soon as possible.
The investigation of the case has been assigned to the Crime Branch DySP of Pathanamthitta as the SHRC had made it clear that since the case involved policemen serving in Thiruvananthapuram district, the investigation should be assigned to an officer from outside the district.
According to sources, the SHRC has given directions to ensure that all legal procedures are followed and the rights and dignity of the victim are protected.
Once Bindu’s statement is recorded, the investigating officer will begin examining documents from the Peroorkada police station. This will include examining the sentry report and other certified copies to find out if more policemen were involved in the case.
These documents are expected to reveal the extent to which the police station staff abused their powers and intimidated Bindu. Bindu, who worked as a domestic help, was illegally detained and mentally tortured for about 20 hours on April 23 by her employer Omana Davis on false charges of theft.
Following the incident, SI S.G. Prasad and ASI Prasanna Kumar of the Peroorkada police station have been suspended for their actions. Prasanna, who was handling the station’s General Diary (GD), is accused of aiding the illegal detention, making casteist remarks, and even making Bindu drink toilet water when she demanded drinking water. Prasad was suspended based on a report by the Assistant Commissioner of Special Branch.
Though an FIR was lodged against Bindu, she was later released after the complainant admitted that the jewellery was found at home.
Bindu approached the Chief Minister’s Office over the matter, but there, Chief Minister’s political secretary P. Sasi allegedly ignored her complaint. However, when the matter led to public outrage, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan strongly condemned it, calling it “unacceptable”.
This was the whole case
Bindu, who is a domestic worker and hails from Chullimanoor, was accused by her employer of stealing a gold chain on April 23. Based on this complaint, the Perurkada police called her and called her to the police station. On reaching the police station, the victim repeatedly said that she was innocent, but the police did not listen to her.
According to Bindu, a woman police officer took her to a room, made her remove her clothes and searched her. Then the police took her to her house and searched it too. During this time, she was not allowed to talk to the family, nor was she given food and water.
Bindu told the media, “When I asked for water, a policeman said – ‘Go to the toilet and drink from there’.”
Detained overnight, threatened to implicate daughters
Bindu said that she was kept in the police station all night and the interrogation continued till the next morning. An FIR was registered and the police threatened her that if she did not admit to the theft, her minor daughters would also be implicated in the case.
Later, when the house owner and her daughter visited the police station again, they said they had been ‘forgiven’. Some time later, the stolen gold chain was found in the house, and the complainant herself admitted that the allegation was false.
Complaint ignored in CMO
When Bindu, with the help of a lawyer, submitted a written complaint to the Chief Minister’s political secretary P. Sasi, she claims that Sasi neither read the complaint nor gave any assurance. “He said that such things happen and advised me to approach the court,” Bindu had said.
However, later the CMO clarified that the police were directed to take action after receiving the complaint. But according to Bindu, she had also urged the CMO to register a case against the woman who had falsely accused her, which was rejected.
Courtesy : Rajan Chaudhary, Hindi News