On 23 February, Shibu Kumar and Anjana were travelling in their car with their three-year-old daughter when they were stopped by traffic police at Balaramapuram in Thiruvananthapuram. In the hour that followed, the couple faced alleged harassment and stress from the Kerala police, who not only charged them a hefty fine but went to the extent of locking their child inside the car while she was alone.
The couple spoke to Asianet News and said that they decided to speak up six months later, after recently seeing visuals of a pink patrol police officer falsely accusing a man and his daughter of stealing her mobile phone.
Shibu and Anjana are musicians who work with a music troupe — he is a drummer and she is a singer. The pandemic had deprived them of all earnings and the couple said they were worried when the police stopped them in Balaramapuram.
“They told me I was speeding and the maximum limit is 30 km per hour in that stretch and I had to pay a fine of Rs 1,500. I objected, saying I was not speeding and that I only had Rs 500.”Shibu
However, the police did not relent even when Shibu explained his financial condition and they allegedly asked him to borrow from other travellers on the road.
“While my daughter and wife waited in the car, I stood outside for almost 45 minutes, and asked people on bikes, who were stopped by the police, if they could lend me money. Finally, I managed to get Rs 1,000 and paid the fine,” he said.
According to Anjana, as Shibu walked back to the car, she told him that many other cars had gone past and some were speeding but the police hadn't stopped any of them. Shibu then decided to go and ask the police why they were forced to pay the fine when they clearly could not even afford it. This was apparently when the Sub Inspector on duty became angry and allegedly threatened to impound the car.
“As my husband got out of the car, I also got out and stood near the front passenger door, my daughter was seated in the back. I then saw the policeman walking towards the car and I started recording on video.”Anjana
The video shot by Anjana shows the policeman entering the car, taking the key and then shutting the door as he leaves — all this as the child is wailing loudly from inside the vehicle.
“He did not tell our child even once not to cry, and he just locked the door. If I hadn’t kept the passenger door open a bit, my child would have been locked inside and the key was with the police,” Anjana said.
According to reports, the Neyyattinkara Special Branch will look into the couple’s allegation and submit a report to the Rural SP.
This is not the first instance in recent times where the Kerala police has been accused of excesses. In the last week of August, a man and his eight-year-old daughter went to Attingal and were accused by a policewoman of stealing her mobile phone. A video of Jayachandran, a rubber tapping worker and his daughter being shouted at was shot by a person on the road. However, the phone was later found in the policewoman’s bag. Though a crowd gathered and questioned the officer, she was not ready to accept her mistake. Later, the officer was transferred by the department.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and then republished here with permission.)
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