CHENNAI: While four of the family were arrested and lodged in Puzhal prison for two days, the complaint Prema lodged against MTC bus driver Narasimhan, which would attract severe punishment under the Prevention of Women Harassment Act, was not even registered by police.
The family also does not expect the police to act on their complaint anymore, having witnessed directly the influence of MTC trade unions. “The trade union leaders used highly derogatory language against us even in the presence of the police inspector and other officers. They demanded the police to send Prema out of the station and wanted to assault her,” says Indrani, Prema’s sister in-law.
The best the police could do was to guard the family from the MTC mob assembled at the police station. After being made to sit in the CMBT station for nearly five hours, the family members say they were moved to the Maduravoyal police station.
Even as the family explained the behaviour of bus driver Narasimhan, the police said they would broker a “compromise” soon and let the family free.
Bur tfter reaching the Maduravoyal police station, Indrani says, she alone was allowed go home, along with the four children, after being assured that the rest of the family members would return soon. Amid frequent visits of the trade union leaders and MTC staff, the family was made to sit in the station all day.
“At 12 noon, we were informed that a case had been registered against us and we would be taken to Egmore court. Even then we never expected we would be put in prison,” says Ramesh.
When produced before the magistrate, the family narrated the entire sequence of events. But the judge said he could give them bail only on Thursday.
“We realised that we were going to be put in jail only after the judge told us that we had been arrested and were going to be lodged at Puzhal prison. Around 5 pm, we were taken to prison, where we had to stay till Friday morning,” said Ramesh.
At 12 noon, we were informed that a case had been registered against us and we would be taken to Egmore court. We realised that we were going to jail only after the judge told us that we had been arrested. At 5 pm, we were taken to prison, where we had to stay till Friday morning
— Ramesh, Victim’s brother