A police inspector in Kerala is facing disciplinary action after CCTV footage surfaced showing him assaulting a pregnant woman inside the Ernakulam North police station, an incident that occurred in June 2024 but came to light only recently following a prolonged legal battle by the victim.
The accused officer, Inspector K.G. Prathap Chandra, has been placed under suspension after the footage was released pursuant to an order of the Kerala High Court. Prathap was serving as the station house officer (SHO) of the Aroor police station at the time.
The CCTV visuals show Prathap pushing the victim Shaimol and striking her forcefully across the face while she was pregnant. The incident unfolded after her husband Benjo was taken into custody at the Ernakulam North police station for allegedly disrupting police duty while filming a scuffle between police personnel and a group of intoxicated men.
Shaimol rushed to the station carrying her twin toddlers after learning of her husband’s detention. Police later claimed that she had created a disturbance, a charge she has strongly denied. Shaimol has maintained that she intervened only because she saw police assaulting her husband.
“They accused me of creating tension inside the police station. I wasn’t carrying any weapons; I was holding my two children. He pushed me and asked me to stop the drama. That’s when I questioned him,” Shaimol told television channels on December 18.
Benjo was subsequently remanded for allegedly obstructing police duty, while a case was also registered against Shaimol accusing her of attacking the police station and endangering her children.
Despite the couple submitting complaints to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Director General of Police Ravada A. Chandrasekhar, no action was initially taken against Prathap, as a Special Branch report reportedly gave him a clean chit.
However, the release of the CCTV footage following the High Court’s intervention sparked widespread public outrage, prompting the Chief Minister to order disciplinary action.
The footage has also encouraged another alleged victim to come forward. Rineesh, a resident of Kakkanad, alleged that Prathap assaulted him while he was resting under the Ernakulam North bridge.
According to Rineesh, plainclothes policemen questioned him, followed by Prathap, who allegedly beat him with a lathi and slapped him when he objected.
Rineesh further claimed that he was threatened with a retaliatory case if he pursued a complaint. He said he later approached the Director General of Police, the Police Complaints Authority, and the State Human Rights Commission seeking action against the inspector.
Kerala Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, tagging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, condemned the incident as “another shocking instance of police brutality in Kerala,” saying a pregnant woman carrying her infant was assaulted inside the Ernakulam North police station, with CCTV footage emerging only after a year-long legal battle, and questioned whether this reflected the government’s much-touted promise of women’s safety.
He alleged its akin to the brutal assault on Youth Congress leader Sujith in Thrissur.
“How many innocent people might have been attacked by criminal elements within the police without visuals or evidence ever coming to light?” he asked on Facebook.
“The disastrous consequences of surrendering control over the Kerala Police, under the pretext of confronting political opponents, to a cabal operating out of the Chief Minister’s Office and a criminal–mafia nexus within the CPM are now emerging one by one,” he alleged.
He pointed out that ““It must be remembered that custodial torture and human rights violations are taking place in the Home Department, which has been under the control of Pinarayi Vijayan as Home Minister for the past nine and a half years,” asking, “ Is this the women’s safety promised by the Pinarayi Vijayan government? Is this your ‘people-friendly’ police station? Like your party, the criminals you control within the police force, what era are they living in? What a colossal failure you and your government are as Chief Minister.”
“ Beyond squandering public money and looting the people through corruption, your police are now brutally attacking the very citizens they are meant to protect,” he said.
He also highlighted that “It is under the same Home Department, controlled by Pinarayi Vijayan, that a DIG who allegedly accepted lakhs in bribes from hardened criminals, including Kodi Suni, who is serving a prison sentence after being convicted in the T.P. murder case continues to function. Criminals within the police force must not be allowed to remain in service for even a moment. Strict legal action must be taken.”
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