Police officers involved in Kunnamkulam custodial torture suspended

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has suspended the four officers accused of brutalising a Youth Congress leader V.S. Sujith at the Kunnamkulam police station in Thrissur on April 5, 2023. 

The State police identified the officers as Sub-Inspector Nuhman and Civil Police Officers Sajeevan, Sandeep, and Shashidharan. The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has registered a suo motu case and demanded a report from the police. 

The belated departmental action against the officers comes in the wake of the Congress launching aggressive anti-government protests by tapping into the growing public outrage sparked off by the emergence of the disturbing police surveillance camera footage of the torture.

Notably, Mr. Sujith had obtained the video, braving “threats and inducements”, through a protracted and uphill RTI litigation. He said the pummelling and caning (on the bottom of the feet) in the police station had permanently impaired his hearing and caused irreversible nerve damage.

The Congress escalated its protests on Saturday by marching to the residences of the suspended officials and law enforcement facilities, resulting in clashes with the police and injuries on both sides. They pasted “wanted person” notices featuring the mug shots of the suspended officials in their respective neighbourhoods.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who called on Mr. Sujith at his residence, stated that the ‘token suspensions’ were not a legal or ethical salve for the injury caused to Mr. Sujith and, by extension, Kerala’s collective consciousness and civic sense.

He demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan break his silence on the matter. “Mr. Vijayan’s reticence in unequivocally condemning the brazen human rights violation and breach of law seems a silent nod to the police to dehumanise citizens in custody, including political opponents,” he said.

Mr. Chennithala promised political and legal support to Mr. Sujith, who has filed a criminal miscellaneous petition in the magistrate’s court, seeking the prosecution of the officers for causing grievous injury, illegal detention, and unlawful arrest.   

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan demanded the summary dismissal of the officers and their prosecution. He said the Congress would take the fight to the doorstep of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, MLA, announced that party workers would lay siege to police stations across Kerala on September 10. 

Meanwhile. Mr. Sujith has said that he will file a petition to be impleaded in the suo motu case taken up by the Supreme Court on non-functional CCTV cameras in police stations across the country.

The apex court had initiated proceedings after reports revealed that 11 custodial deaths occurred in various police stations over the past eight months, with critical evidence either missing because CCTVs were not operational or deliberately destroyed by police.

“My case is of the same nature. I thought the police would kill me inside the station, or I would die from the injuries after being released. It is only by God’s grace that I survived. The CCTV footage that has now come out proves why such visuals must be preserved,” he told mediapersons here on Saturday.

He said the Kerala Police had failed to comply with a 2020 Supreme Court directive mandating the installation of CCTVs in all police stations and storage of data for 18 months. “Even with these rulings, I had to fight for two years to obtain the footage,” he said.

He said that suspension of the officers was “too soft” a punishment. “These officers are unfit to serve in the police. They must be dismissed. All five, including driver Shuhair, should face action,” he said. Shuhair, however, is now employed in the Local Administration department, making departmental action complicated.