The Chhindwara police have suspended two policemen for landing batons on a reportedly drunk man, in yet another instance of personnel thrashing people during the lockdown in Madhya Pradesh.
In a video that went viral on the social media, a policeman is seen landing blows on a man, who collapses to the ground, where he suffers another set of blows and a kick before being taken inside a police van.
Stating the suspension, Chhindwara Deputy Inspector General of Police Mithilesh Shukla said, “We are inquiring into the incident. The officers had received the complaint the man misbehaved with people of the area.” However, he said officers should instead have taken him to a hospital, if he was drunk, for a medical examination, and registered a case if warranted. “Why the beating?”
On April 20, a farmer died while undergoing treatment in Jabalpur, four days after he was allegedly beaten up by the police for violating lockdown orders as he was returning after feeding cattle. Whereas, On March 23, a diabetic lawyer on his way to hospital was beaten up by the police, which later claimed the incident occurred as they mistook him for a Muslim.
“I am quite clear in such matters. This kind of behaviour has no place in the police. Such incidents can’t be defended,” Director General of Police Vivek Johri told The Hindu . “If they commit mistakes, action will be taken.”
‘Aberrations’
Denying that the incidents of police brutalities were occurring in a series, Mr. Johri said, “These are aberrations. But, there is no question of trying to shield them. We will continue acting in such cases, set an example. But I don’t see a trend. The trend is that everyone has done their duty standing in the sun in the past two and a half months.”
