How far should police go to enforce the law? An officer in Odisha last week decided to penalise a postman who had his wife riding pillion without wearing a helmet. The violator was driven to a police station in Mayurbhanj district and detained till he shelled out the penalty of Rs 500. The wife, eight months pregnant, was left to fend for herself on the road. The hapless tribal woman, after an agonising wait for her husband to return, walked three kilometres to the police station under blistering hot conditions. The pleas of the couple fell on deaf ears of the police personnel. As the media picked up the story the next day, the officer concerned was placed under suspension.
Police excesses in India are no new story, but such incidents show that the force has remained insensitive and arrogant at the core despite years of attempts at reforms. The law is meant to be enforced and there is nothing wrong in taking a violator to task. The police officer was right in asking why the pregnant woman did not have the safety of a helmet, but what she displayed also was an excessive use of force that no law permits and a disturbing lack of compassion. Last year, when the entire country was under lockdown, many of these same men and women in uniform had displayed exemplary humanity to help thousands of migrants who were trudging back home in gruelling conditions.
The problem lies in the system that vests immense and unaccountable volume of authority in police but does not train its very use. In India, the powerful and influential get away with murder but the poor and underprivileged bear the brunt of authority even for a minor violation, which is a major reason behind eroding public trust. Restraint in the use of authority must be the rule and not the exception. In 2019, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 49 cases were registered against police personnel for human rights violations across the country; eight saw final form submission, but not one ended in conviction. That summarises the story.