Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 13 The KSHRC has directed the government to pay Rs 2 lakh to a student allegedly assaulted by police while waiting for a bus near Venjaramoodu more than three years ago.
Commission chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas directed that the compensation could be recovered from the five officers involved in the incident, including the Venjaramoodu sub-inspector (SI), the commission said in a release on Tuesday.
Of the total amount, Rs 1.6 lakh can be recovered from the SI and Rs 10,000 each from the four other policemen. The compensation must be paid within six weeks, the commission said in its order.
“If the compensation is not paid within six weeks, interest at eight per cent will be applicable,” it added.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department to submit a report within three months on the action taken in compliance with the order.
It also directed that appropriate disciplinary proceedings be initiated against the SI and the four other policemen. The commission expressed surprise that the then District Police Chief had imposed only a minor punishment of a ‘record warning’ on the officers, despite the then State Police Chief and the then Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department acknowledging that the student had been brutally assaulted.
The student sustained injuries to his left hand, the left side of his chest and his right shoulder. There was also dried blood in his left ear.
The SI told the commission that legal action had been taken against the student, who had allegedly questioned the officer’s dignity in public.
The student, however, claimed that he was taken away in a police jeep because he did not run when he saw the policemen while sitting on a culvert. He also alleged that he was handcuffed.
After examining CCTV footage from the police station, the commission and the government found that the SI had physically assaulted the student.
The commission’s investigation department also found that the SI and the other policemen had breached discipline.
(PTI News)
