A day after a law student allegedly ended her life leaving behind a note, which blamed the Inspector of Aluva East police station along with her husband and in-laws, another woman has substantiated the allegations, claiming to be a witness.
In her note, Mofiya Parveen, 21, from Edayapuram in Aluva, accused Inspector C.L. Sudheer of behaving rudely to her in front of her husband and father when they were called to the station in connection with a domestic violence complaint she had filed a month ago. The note ends with a “final wish”, demanding action against her husband Suhail and his family and also against the Inspector. The officer was immediately removed from the charge of the station soon thereafter.
The woman from Eramalloor who turned up on Wednesday claimed that she was at the police station to lodge a petition and witnessed the incident described in the note. “The officer was indeed very rude with the girl. He was rude with me too while was well behaved with the rich,” she alleged. She, however, declined to disclose the nature of her personal petition on the grounds that the DySP had summoned her to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, the incident seemed to have assumed political overtones, with the Congress turning the alleged apathy of the police officer to turn the heat on the Home Department yet again.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan dubbed the incident as a marker of the Government’s approach to women’s security. He also accused the Inspector of being close to the CPI(M). “The officer is accused of having mismanaged the Uthara murder case as well but was protected by CPI(M) leaders. People’s representatives had to even stage a protest in front of the police station seeking action against the officer,” he said.
Anwar Sadat, Aluva MLA, who staged a sit-in in front of the police station through the day said that nothing less than the suspension of the officer was acceptable. He also made this demand to Ernakulam Range DIG Neeraj Kumar Gupta. “The police manhandled our protesting activists and arrested many of them,” he said. Benny Behanan, MP, and MLAs Roji M. John and Eldhose Kunnappilli also joined the protest at different points.
Meanwhile, State Human Rights Commission Chairman Antony Dominic has ordered a detailed probe into the death of the student. The District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) has been asked to submit a detailed inquiry report within four weeks. The case will be considered by the Commission on December 27.
Meanwhile, the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) took out a protest march to the office of the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) demanding the arrest of the Inspector. The organisation demanded that the officer be booked for abetment of suicide. AIYF State joint secretary N. Arun demanded that the officer be dismissed from service and arrested.
