Scars that do not heal for lifetime

Time is said to heal all wounds; but the three years that have flown by have not made things easier for Eswari. She was protesting against a social evil that had ruined her life. In return, she got a tight slap from a top-ranking police official. The physical pain faded away in a few months, but the shame has followed her like shadow. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” is the first response Eswari has, when asked about the incident. “It is an episode that I am trying to forget.”

On April 11, 2017, Eswari, her friend Davamani, and a few other women staged a protest against a government-run liquor store in the Samalapuram area of Tirupur. “Eswari’s husband was an alcoholic, and easy access to the store was making her life miserable,” says Davamani. “This is what led to the protest.” Action was taken swiftly. A police team arrived on spot and assured to shift out the liquor store. So did the Sulur MLA and District Collector.

The villagers, however, were not convinced, for the store was contracted by a local political heavyweight. When the protestors refused to leave, the police moved to next course of action — lathi charge. Unable to take the violence, Eswari and a few other women started arguing with the police. “The next thing we saw was a brutal slap land on her face.” The person who hit her was additional district superintendent of police, R Pandiyarajan. “It was in full public and camera view.” After initial reluctance, Eswari opens up to say the pain she suffered in her ear after the slap was immense. “She fought for her family and this is what she got,” says Davamani.

“The public humiliation and mental agony of that one act of violence has still not left her. She stopped making any public appearances after that.” The store was closed down by the government. But, had the officer involved spared a minute to reconsider his actions, Eswari would still be a vocal champion of rights for her people, opine her villagers. Eswari’s story did not change anything about the system. From her case to that of the father-son duo allegedly tortured in police custody in Sathankulam, the story of pain and humiliation suffered is the same but for the gravity.

The story of Velumayil, who used to run a roadside eatery at Rathinapuri in Coimbatore is no different. His teenaged son was beaten up in front of him, and there was not much he could do but watch. The helpless father has not been able to console his son since the incident on June 17. “Everything happened within a matter of 20 minutes,” recalls Velumayil. “We started this tiffin centre about 18 months ago, and our younger son studying in Class X was helping us out,” says the 47-year-old. “My sons — elder one is doing his graduation — work as paperboys in the morning.

On June 17, three cops came to our stall around 8pm and asked us to shut down as per Covid norms. We pleaded with them to be allowed to keep the shop open a little longer as the business that day was poor.”
When the argument escalated, the boy started recording the incident on his mobile phone. “A police officer immediately snatched his phone. The boy, in return, took the keys of the cop’s bike. And then all hell broke loose. They beat up my son in public and took him into custody. He was released after a lengthy interrogation. The cops took the matter to his school, inquiring about his conduct there, creating an uncomfortable situation at his place of study. Even though I gave an apology letter, they wanted to book me,” says Velumayil. 

He feels it was wrong for his son to take the bike keys. “But he only did it because his parents were being hurt.” The cops have gone, but the incident is still fresh in our memory — especially for our son. He is now worried about his future. Child rights activists were shocked that a minor boy was beaten up in public and kept in custody by a few cops. “The policemen involved have put the boy under severe mental stress by taking the matter to his school,” says K Krishnaraj of ThinnaiKulanthaikalKalam. “The matter should have been handled by District Child Protection Officials and Child Welfare Committee, not the police.” No case has been filed against the boy, but the State Human Rights Commission has sought a report from Coimbatore Commissioner on the matter.

Commissioner Sumit Sharan says the incident could have happened due to “stress on both sides.” However, activists say the entire problem is that the policemen take out their stress on the public, putting the receiver under duress and humiliation. “After every such incident, the policemen claim they committed the crime in rage. They fail to understand the law is equal for everyone. How is it fair if a civilian attacking another person in anger and rage is crime but a cop doing the same is mere work pressure?” asks lawyer N Lalithaa, who practices at the Madras High Court. 

Eswari and Velumayil’s son are not alone. Thousands have faced this problem for years. But none of the governments, top officers, social workers, or the judiciary have been able to put an end to this systemic abuse of power, that too for reason as simple as it was in the case of college student Vikram. “I was stopped by a traffic cop on my way to the market. He demanded my vehicle documents. While handing it over, I addressed him as ‘uncle’ as one would address any elder person. He slapped me in full public view,” he says. Unable to utter a word due to shame, Vikram paid a fine for not wearing a helmet, and quietly left the place.    

Into a shell
The mental stress a victim undergoes after a police attack is so intense that a sense of shame and stress forces the person to go into a shell, never to step out

(Reporting by R Kirubakaran, MP Saravanan, MS Thanaraj, Aravind Raj, Jayakumar Madala, Jayanthi Pawar and Sahaya Novinston Lobo. Written by Gokul Chandrasekar)