Kochi: Dragged, beaten, and then discarded— a 35-year-old man from Muvattupuzha says police brutality has left him broken for a crime he never committed. 

Amal Antony, of Madathukudiyil near Perumballoor, claims he was wrongly picked up in a theft case on August 12 and brutally beaten before the police realised their mistake. He is now undergoing treatment for severe back and neck pain. Nearly a month later, Antony says no action has been taken against the policemen who assaulted him, even though an inquiry has been ordered by the superintendent of police, Ernakulam Rural. 

"It all felt like a movie scene. I was dragged out in front of my mother by five policemen, thrown into a vehicle and beaten on the way to the station. I had no clue why they were taking me. My legs were bleeding from being dragged. My hands were held back, and my head was held down and they started hitting me on my neck and back. They didn’t listen when I begged them to stop. Later, when they realised their mistake, they just sent me away without even properly apologising. All that for a crime I did not commit, and I am still suffering from the pain they caused that day and my mother, wife and daughter are still in shock," Antony told Onmanorama from a hospital in Muvattupuzha. 

The incident unfolded in the afternoon of August 12 when Antony, who works as an electrician, came home for lunch. Before he could finish eating, the policemen barged in. 

"They asked if I had sold a battery. I said yes, because I had sold a 10-year-old battery from my house just a day earlier. Then they shouted, 'Where did you steal it from?' and dragged me out. My mother was crying, pleading with them that I had stolen nothing," he recalled. 

At the police station, Antony realised what had happened– an inverter battery was stolen from a footwear shop in Muvattupuzha, and when the police scanned CCTV footage from nearby cameras, it showed Antony on a scooter carrying a similar battery. The police traced him by his scooter’s registration number, picked him up without verifying the facts, and later discovered the stolen battery was only two years old and Antony was innocent. Amal was released without his arrest being recorded. 

"The shopowner himself told police the battery I sold was not his. He promised to pay my hospital bills and asked me not to make an issue. But he only paid one day’s bill. Since then, I’ve been in pain. Doctors have found serious injuries, and now I’m forced to rely on Ayurvedic treatment. I haven’t worked since August 12 and my family is struggling. It costs me ₹1,500 a day for treatment," Antony said. 

Antony had informed the police about his plight two days after the incident. Initially they collected some details but later on they never followed it up. Later, he submitted a complaint to the Ernakulam Rural SP M Hemalatha. Based on his complaint, the SP ordered Muvattupuzha DySP to conduct a preliminary inquiry. But Antony says the process has stalled. 

Meanwhile, Muvattupuzha DySP PM Baiju said that he will soon file a report to the district police chief (Ernakulam Rural) on the incident. "The inquiry, as directed by the superintendent of police, is underway. We have to take the statements of two more police officers and a civilian in connection with the incident. No FIR has been registered so far and it will be decided by the SP once the report is submitted," said Baiju.