After school clash, Kasaragod police accused of thrashing 3 teens, then framing them for complaining

Kasaragod: Kerala Police, often accused of high-handedness and excesses, are now facing fresh allegations of assaulting at least three school students -- one of whom reported bleeding from his ears. The second boy said he was beaten after his cousin filmed a police officer thrashing two young men on a motorcycle without any provocation.

The incidents took place on October 16 at Mogral, about 10 km from Kasaragod town, when violence broke out during the arts festival (kalolsavam) at the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School.

Around 7.30 pm, when Shahanaz opened the door responding to a knock, her son Abdul Rahman Rafeed (15) collapsed on the doorstep. "I asked him what happened. He could only mutter 'police'," said Shahanaz. "Even today, we just returned from a hearing test," she said.

That night, Shahanaz took Rafeed to the District Cooperative Hospital in Kumbla. "He already had an ear infection and back pain. But the doctor said this bleeding was because of a direct hit on his ear," she said.

There was a red palm mark over his right ear, and long welts on the back of his neck and ankles from lathi strikes. "Two police officers beat my son. Kumbla inspector Jijeesh P K used the lathi, and a trainee SI (Ananthakrishnan) in civil clothes slapped my son," she said.

When asked if her son could speak over the phone, she said only if he held it to his left ear.

Rafeed said he had four events that day -- Otta Pattu, Duff Muttu, Arabic group song, and Arabic solo song. "Around 6 pm, clashes broke out between students of Classes X and XI. Soon, Class XII students also joined," he said. The violence soon spilled over to Mogral town, and residents joined the melee.

"There were around 300 to 400 students on the streets, and if the police had not reached the spot and dispersed the crowd, there would have been a big law and order problem," said Kasaragod District Police Chief B V Vijaya Bharath Reddy.

Rafeed said his teammates had asked him to carry the Duff Muttu costumes while leaving. "I had costumes for 10 people and one sherwani. It was pretty heavy," he said.

His teachers advised him to take an autorickshaw home -- otherwise, within walking distance -- because of the clothes he was carrying and the nagging back pain that resurfaced after his performance. "As there was no auto at the stand, I waited. That's when the two officers came and asked me to leave. They pushed me first. I walked a short distance and waited again because I wasn't able to walk," Rafeed said.

Then the officer in plain clothes (Ananthakrishnan) allegedly slapped him on the face, and the SHO swung the baton. After the assault, he was walking home groggily when a passerby saw his condition and dropped him home on his motorcycle, said Shahanaz.

"The doctor at the cooperative hospital said he would give us a report stating that the bleeding was caused by the assault, but his father said he did not want to pursue the case," said Shahanaz.

Rafeed's father Ismail runs a grocery shop. "We've already spent ₹6,000 on his treatment. I just hope it won't cause lasting damage," said Shahanaz.

'Assaulted for recording police brutality'
Salman Farris (16) and his friend Mizab (17) -- Class X and XI students of the Government Higher Secondary School at Uppala, 15 km from Mogral -- were sitting in front of a café when violence broke out around 6 pm. The café, located on the first floor of a building about 200 metres from Mogral school, doubled as a PlayStation hub and milkshake counter. It belonged to Faris's cousin, Munavvir C B, who also deals in used cars.

Around 7.50 pm, Sub-Inspector Sreejesh climbed the stairs to the café and asked the six boys, including Mizab and Salman, sitting in the corridor to leave. Two more officers, with batons in hand, followed and pulled down the shutter, as captured on CCTV footage from the café.

As the boys were leaving, SI Sreejesh allegedly slapped Salman, while another officer hit him and Mizab with the baton. Salman ended up with a red eye from the slap, and both boys had baton marks on their backs and shoulders. "My own brother Misbah, who runs the café for me, was also hit with the baton but managed to evade," said Munavvir.

A few minutes before the police arrived at the café, his brother Misbah had recorded provisional SI Ananthakrishnan hitting two young men passing by on a motorcycle without any reason.

Munavvir rushed to Mogral and took Salman and Mizab to the General Hospital in Kasaragod. His mother, Fousia, could not take him to the hospital because she is observing iddah for four months and 10 days, after his father, Moideen, died recently.

At the hospital, doctors said they would treat Salman and Mizab only if the police were informed, since it was a medico-legal case. "We agreed to it because treatment was more important," said Munavvir.

On October 19, Kumbla police called Mizab and Salman to the station. "We thought we were being called to give our statements because of the intimation sent by the General Hospital," said Munavvir.

But when they reached the station, the police told them they were the main accused in the clashes that broke out at GVHSS, Kumbla. "Salman and Mizab are not even students of that school. CCTV footage from my café showed they were there when the clashes were happening," said Munavvir.

He alleged that the police were trying to frame them because of the hospital intimation. "Otherwise, the police wouldn't even know my cousin's name," he said.

When their families realised their boys were being framed, Mizab's mother Mobina L K and Salman Farris's elder sister Jumana arrived at the station. "They were made to sign a white paper. When we asked if we were being made accused because we complained against the police, the officers said the paper was about the boys going for counselling at Paravanadukam," said Munavvir.

Both Mobina and Jumana thought a little counselling wouldn't hurt and signed the paper. "But now we're told the boys are accused in the case," said Munavvir.

He said he had no intention of pressing charges against the police. The hospital sent the intimation. After being cornered, Munavvir approached the District Police Chief and filed a complaint against SI Sreejesh, who allegedly beat Salman and Mizab. "When I went to the District Police Chief's office, the officer at the reception said the police wouldn't beat anyone without reason," Munavvir said.

"Then when I went inside, the first question the District Police Chief asked was if I was a criminal or accused in any criminal case. When I told him I wasn't, not even in a petty case, he said he would look into the complaint," he said. "I lost my father at 13. Since then, we have been struggling to keep our house running," said Munavvir, who also dabbles in the used car business.

When contacted, Reddy said he had directed Kasaragod Additional SP Devadasan C M to inquire into the complaint. "Let him give the report," he said.

Reddy, however, claimed the video recorded by Misbah only showed the SI pushing the back of the motorcycle-borne men to clear the road. But in the footage, the men can be seen wincing, clutching their backs, and riding away from the frame.