Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Friday demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan apologise to the people for failing to act on a complaint received in 2024 regarding the alleged brutal assault of a pregnant woman and her family by police personnel.
Satheesan said the Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, had been aware of the incident but chose not to take any action at the time, allowing the matter to be suppressed.
“If the Chief Minister knew and did nothing, it is a grave failure. If he did not know, then what is the purpose of occupying that office?” he asked.
The Opposition leader said the incident once again exposed what he described as the “true face” of the Kerala Police under the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
According to him, the police had taken the woman’s husband into custody over a trivial issue, detained him at the station and subjected him to brutal assault.
When the woman reached the police station along with her children after learning about the incident, she was allegedly assaulted as well after she protested against her husband being beaten in front of her.
Terming the episode unprecedented, Satheesan said an incident in which a police officer assaulted a pregnant woman who had come to the station with her children was unheard of.
He alleged that only because the matter reached the court did the incident come to public attention.
“Not even one-hundredth of what happens inside police stations comes out,” he said.
Satheesan demanded a comprehensive investigation into the incident and action against all those responsible.
He also sought a probe into whether anyone from the Chief Minister’s Office or senior police officers intervened to protect the errant personnel.
Alleging that police excesses and corruption had become routine during the tenure of the present government, Satheesan claimed that even senior police officers were facilitating parole for hardened criminals in exchange for bribes.
The Kerala Police, once held in high esteem, had been severely weakened under the current administration, he said.
Referring to earlier instances of alleged police excess, including a case involving a Youth Congress leader in Thrissur, Satheesan said assurances given by the Chief Minister on the floor of the Assembly had not been honoured, accusing the CPI(M) and the Chief Minister’s Office of shielding guilty police officials.
Meanwhile, the police officer, Prathapachandran, who assaulted the pregnant woman, has been suspended. The victim has said that the family will approach the legal system for justice, as other police officials also humiliated her.
The case came to light recently after a video of the assault surfaced and went viral.
(IANS)
