Thiruvananthapuram: The autorickshaw driver who repeatedly slapped a migrant labourer for questioning his rash driving was arrested by the Vizhinjam Poilce on Sunday.
The incident happened on February 21 but the police swung into action only after a video showing the assault went viral on Sunday. The migrant labourer, 25-year-old Gowtham Mandal from Jharkhand, had registered a complaint on February 21 itself.
Gowtham was about to enter a mobile recharge shop at Mukkola in Vizhinjam when a reversing autorickshaw hit him. Gowtham shouted at the driver to be more careful while backing up. This is said to have provoked Suresh.
The video shows an angry Suresh pulling out his Aadhar card from his purse and slapping Gowtham. The slap is so hard that Gowtham goes off balance. Suresh, using the choicest of expletives, then asks Gowtham for his Aadhar card. "Show me your Aadhar and license," he asks a baffled Gowtham. The young migrant labourer is then seen attempting to talk sense to Suresh in the little Malayalam that he knows.
Before he could take out his identity card, Suresh slaps Gowtham once more. Gowtham looks at Suresh more surprised than angered. In the video, those around are not seen to interfere. When Gowtham shows Suresh his Aadhar card Suresh snaches it from his hands and walks away.
Then he turns around and tells Gowtham that he would get his card back from the Commissioner's office. “Let me first go to the Commissioner's office and check if there are any cases registered in your name and then you will get your card," Suresh is heard saying.
Vizhinjam police said Suresh was arrested on Sunday afternoon. He was absconding in the morning. His relatives had earlier said that Suresh had mental problems. "We have no proof that he is mentally stable," a Vizhinjam police source told Onmanorama. "Let them first produce documents showing that he is in treatment. Attributing mental instability is normally a ruse to get people out of legal trouble. But there has to be proof," the source said.
The police also said that Suresh did not have any grave criminal charges slapped against him earlier. "Of course, there were minor cases, misdemeanours. Nothing more," the source said. Locals say Suresh is a drug addict and frequently gets into brawls.
