Pink Police harassment: Girl moves HC seeking action

KOCHI: The eight-year-old girl who was falsely accused of stealing a mobile phone and humiliated in public by the Pink Police approached the Kerala High Court on Thursday seeking a directive to the state government to take stringent action against Rejitha — a civil police officer attached to the Attingal unit of the Pink Police — for having infringed on her fundamental rights. She also sought a declaration that the state government is liable to pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the officer’s action.

The incident happened on August 27. The petitioner — a Class 3 student — and her father Jayachandran were waiting to see the giant ISRO machinery that was being transported in a truck at Moonnumukku near Attingal, where the police including a Pink Patrol squad was deployed to control the crowd. The Pink Police vehicle was parked three metres from Jayachandran’s scooter.

According to the petition, when the girl and her father were drinking water from a nearby shop, Rejitha rushed towards them shouting, and asked them to return the mobile phone. The civil police officer accused them of stealing her mobile phone from the patrol vehicle. The officer made disparaging comments against them and attempted to disrobe them as part of the search, the girl said in the petition. The officer threatened that she would be taken to the police station and a physical examination conducted, the petition added.

While the girl and her father were being harassed for no fault of theirs, another officer with the squad recovered the mobile phone from Rejitha’s bag kept in the police vehicle. The police officer’s action left the eight-year-old child traumatised and requiring medical attention. She was admitted to the mental health centre in Thiruvananthapuram on September 4, 2021, and had to undergo follow-up counselling for another day.