Agali (Palakkad): The police have arrested two CPM activists for assaulting, threatening and using casteist slurs against a tribal woman and her in-laws.
Agali ASP Dr Navnith Sharma arrested Saraswathy (45) and P Shaktivel (47) over this case.
Saraswathy is a member of the Attappady block panchayat. She hails from Chavadyoor, a division of Attappady block.
Shaktivel is the secretary of CPM's Chalayoor branch. He is an accused in a forgery case. It is said he had once tried to falsify documents to prove that he is a tribal.
Since the duo refused to appear in the police station despite several reminders, police personnel reached their homes in Chalayoor and arrested them. The accused have also been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Apart from Shaktivel and Saraswathy, the other accused include Saraswathy's husband Varadarajan, son Praveen, relative Vellankiri, Rajendran and Abdul Khader.
According to the complaint, on June 13, a seven-member gang, including Shaktivel and Saraswathy, barged into the house of Ramankutty, assaulted him, his wife and his daughter-in-law who is a tribal, tore apart their clothes and threatened them with death.
The complaint was filed by Ramankutty's wife Kannamma.
Local Congress leader Ramankutty and Shaktivel were reportedly at loggerheads over the installation of a mobile tower at Chalayoor.
A case has been filed against Ramankutty too on a complaint filed by Shaktivel.
The complaint also says that the family, which had sought treatment at the Kottathara government tribal hospital, were tormented in the hospital too.
