The Kerala High Court has directed the State Police Chief (SPC) to file an affidavit explaining the action taken against two police officers of Thenmala station, Kollam, who allegedly handcuffed a Dalit youth to the station’s handrail.
Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order recently on a petition filed by K. Rajeev of Thenmala, Kollam, alleging police harassment for demanding receipt for a complaint lodged with the police complaints authority
The court said that the report filed by Dy.SP, Kollam Rural, found that at least two police officers had treated the petitioner with unimaginable barbarity– handcuffing him to the handrail of the police station and registering multiple cases against him- all because he dared to ask receipt for a complaint filed before the Police Complaints Authority.
Terming the incident as shocking, the court observed that what was more worrying was the submission of the government pleader, that the officials involved appeared to be still in service. The report of the Dy.SP. certainly was a step in the right direction. But if no action has been taken, it really indicated a collapse of the policing system, observed the court.
