The Kerala High Court expressed its displeasure at the State government stand that there was no material on record to show that the Pink Police officer had humiliated an eight-year-old in public at Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram and that it might not be held liable for paying compensation to the girl as such practice would only put the entire force in poor light.
When the petition by the girl seeking compensation for the incident came up for hearing before Justice Devan Ramachandran, Additional Public Prosecutor P. Narayanan submitted that the petitioner would not be able to compensation since the facts were strongly disputed and the allegations that the officer had humiliated the girl in public by accusing her and her father of stealing her phone were denied by the police officers. He also submitted that there was no violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights.
‘A different colour’
The court orally observed that the police should not have disputed the fact when the woman officer had admitted in her statement that she had restrained the girl and her father from leaving the scene till her phone was found. The officer had also admitted that the girl had started crying even before a crowd gathered, but the affidavit filed by an Inspector General (IG) of Police contended that the girl cried after the people started crowding. A different colour was being given to the incident to show that it had never occurred.
‘Produce video’
The judge noted that the IG, in her affidavit filed before the court, referred to a video viewed by her. However, the video had not been produced before the court for inexplicable reasons. The court directed the IG to produce the video and posted the case for further hearing on December 22.
