“Five days back, four Tamil Nadu policemen as a gang sexually assaulted a 17-year-old minor girl in Trichy.”
According to the Police, the 17-year-old girl was working in a private organisation and was in love with a young man from Kannangudi for a long time. On the penultimate day, she and her boyfriend went to Mukkombu to spend leisure time. Around noon, the couple were conversing, sitting inside a park at Mukkombu, and meanwhile, two men in plainclothes entered the scene and started doing moral policing. Her boyfriend objected to the filthy language and intimidation of the two strangers. The duo in plain clothes slapped her boyfriend and verbally obnoxiously abused them. In front of her boyfriend, the duo held and rubbed her in an inappropriate manner. Later, the duo is identified as Prasath, 26-year-old and Siddharthan, 30-year-old police constables from Navalpattu and Jeeyapuram Police Station, respectively.
Sexually Assaulting Minor Girl
When the couple objected, they dragged the girl to a Car where Rajapandian, 33 years old, a police constable and Sasikumar, 28-year-old Sub-Inspector of Police in Jeeyapuram Police Station, were sitting inside the car. Subsequently, four cops forcefully made the minor girl sit in the car’s front seat. Then, they collectively abused the girl by touching and pulling her vulgarly. Moreover, they recorded the entire molestation on their mobile phone. Cop Rajapandian groped and forced her to kiss him several times.
Ironically, four Policemen sexually assaulted the 17-year-old minor girl for more than one hour inside the car. Later, the cops threatened the victim to keep everything secret; otherwise, they would file a drug peddling case against the couple. One of the cops instructed the minor girl to meet the SI whenever he wanted to meet her privately; if not, they were petrified to upload her visuals on the internet.
Eventually, the four cops left the place, leaving the couple in deep distress. However, the girl gathered some courage despite being bogged down by the death threat and consequences; she informed the police personnel at the Mukkombu checkpost. The Police panicked, intercepted the car, and inquired about the accused. Interestingly, the four cops belong to Trichy District SP’s Special Task Force Policemen.
As the issue escalated and reached the public, Trichy Superintendent of Police V Varun Kumar and Additional Superintendent of Police S Kuthalingam questioned the four accused. The prima facie evidence found that the four cops indulged in the crime of sexual assault. Nevertheless, due to pressure from various quarters, Trichy range DIG P Pakalavan IPS suspended the four policemen immediately to curtail the damage.
Later, the POSCO case was registered on all four cops comprehending the gravity of the crime. Based on the FIR, presently, the Thiruverumbur Police Station is carrying out further investigation. In a sudden turn of events, higher police officials told the four cops were drunk when they committed the crime. But this became a modus operandi and cliché press statement from Tamil Nadu’s higher police officials whenever a policeman commits such heinous crimes against women or society.
Police Brutality and Film Heroism
From custodial deaths to crimes against women, there is an alleged implicit impunity for the Tamil Nadu Police, which is deep-rooted in Tamil popular culture and glorified by hero-worshipping police-films. In the recent past, films like Saamy, Singam, Kaakha Kaakha, Pokkiri, Theri, Nibunan, Darbar, Ayogya etc, set a new narrative among the public justifying police brutality and overreach.
We cannot deny that the legitimacy and social acceptance derived from indulged police crimes are partly inspired by the Police taking laws as per their whims and fancies from movies. Despite massive outrage from the Public in Tamil Nadu against the policemen’s violation of human rights and poor police accountability, the political masters from the DMK regime or AIADMK regime were silent for a long time.
The physical torture, mental harassment and sexual assault by the police force are taken lightly by the majority of people. Madras High Court lawyer Karl Marx said, “Police feel that if they do not abuse power, culprits will not be scared of them. If an accused displays any form of resistance, the cops retaliate in the form of violence. They feel provoked and beat more.”
We must note that the police force in India is not sensitised in the initial probation period or departmental training about caste, gender, ethnicity, race and, mainly, how to deal with the public in a dignified way.
The DMK, as the party in power, asserts itself as a champion of social justice and endeavors to foster an egalitarian society. However, in reality, they remain mute in the face of any overt infringement of human rights. Unfortunately, filing an FIR against the Police happened after large-scale demonstrations and widespread public outcry. When will Tamil Nadu or India face George Floyd’s moment to revamp the Police system?
