Three Kerala Police officers suspended over abduction, assault of POCSO accused’s brother
Three officers, including Bekal Principal SI K P Sarath, were suspended pending inquiry following allegations of abducting and assaulting a POCSO case accused's elder brother while searching for him.
Three officers, including Bekal Principal SI K P Sarath, were suspended pending inquiry following allegations of abducting and assaulting a POCSO case accused's elder brother while searching for him.
Three officers, including Bekal Principal SI K P Sarath, were suspended pending inquiry following allegations of abducting and assaulting a POCSO case accused's elder brother while searching for him.
Kasaragod: Three police officers, including the Principal Sub-Inspector of Bekal police station, were suspended in connection with allegations that they abducted and assaulted the elder brother of a POCSO case accused while searching for him.
The suspended officers are Bekal Principal SI K P Sarath (Kasaragod district), Grade SI R Sreekumar, now posted at Sooranad police station (Kollam district), and Civil Police Officer Vipin Kumar of Sasthamcotta police station (Kollam district). All three were posted at Sasthamcotta police station when the alleged incident took place on May 29.
Police Headquarters IG Harshitha Attalluri ordered their suspension based on a report submitted by the Pathanamthitta District Police Chief. They were suspended pending an inquiry.
The alleged assault took place on May 29, when a Sasthamcotta police team went to the Adoor house of 21-year-old Abhishek. He was wanted by the Sasthamcotta police for the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl whom he had met through Instagram, leading to the girl becoming pregnant.
But according to Abhishek's elder brother Abhijith (23), when the police arrived around 7 pm, his brother was not at home.
When the police did not find Abhishek, they allegedly forced Abhijith into their car and drove away. He alleged that the officers assaulted and tortured him while driving around for several hours. After managing to get Abhishek in custody, the police dropped Abhijith near his house around 11 the same night.
Abhijith later sought treatment at Adoor Taluk Hospital and a private hospital in Adoor after developing severe genital pain and difficulty urinating. He alleged that the Adoor police did not initially record his statement or register a case despite the hospital informing them about the incident. He subsequently filed a complaint with the police and sent complaints by email to the Adoor SHO and the Pathanamthitta District Police Chief.
With police allegedly refusing to act on his complaint, Abhijith went public with his allegations on August 23. Abhijith also approached the Pathanamthitta District Court under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Police Complaints Authority received his complaint and summoned the officers, and their statements were recorded.
The police have denied the allegations, saying they were intended to weaken the POCSO case against Abhijith’s brother.
After the media reported the case, the Pathanamthitta District Police Chief submitted a preliminary inquiry report, following which the suspension orders were issued.
The government has also constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the allegations. The case was later handed over to the Kollam District Police Complaints Authority as the complaint concerns officers of the Sasthamcotta police station, which comes under Kollam Rural police.
Sarath, who was the sub-inspector of Sasthamcotta police station during the incident, was appointed Principal SI of Bekal police station about a month ago.