A 2023 incident of alleged police brutality against a Youth Congress leader has kicked up a storm in Kerala after the leader managed to procure video “evidence” under the Right to Information act.
According to V S Sujith, a Youth Congress leader from Thrissur, the alleged incident occurred on April 5, 2023, at the Kunnamkulam Police Station under the Thrissur city police limits.
CCTV footage of the purported incident was made public following a favourable order from the station information commission.
Sujith has alleged that on the day of the incident, a police team was threatening a group of youngsters standing on the side of the road. When Sujith allegedly intervened, “the police got provoked and asked me who I am to question them”, he told the media after releasing the video.
“Clutching on my shirts’ collar, police dragged me to their jeep and drove the vehicle to the station,” he alleged.
The CCTV footage that Sujith has obtained purportedly shows that his shirt was missing when he was taken into the police station. It purportedly shows four policemen standing in a cordon and assaulting Sujit as he groans in pain.
Sujith was then allegedly taken to a room without cameras and assaulted.
Story continues below this ad
“After the torture, I have developed chronic hearing problems, which was ascertained after a medical examination held at the behest of the court,” he said.
The police had booked Sujith for drunken public misconduct, but he was granted bail after a medical examination showed he was not drunk.
Sujith then approached higher police authorities for action against the “errant” policemen – including an inspector. When nothing happened, he moved a criminal miscellaneous petition in a local court against the four officials.
That petition is still pending in court.
Meanwhile, he also sought CCTV footage of that day under the RTI Act. When the police turned him down, he appealed to the state information commission, which gave him a favourable order.
