TIRUNELVELI: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) member V Kannadasan on Tuesday recommended that the government pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to a 40-year-old Kovilpatti woman, who was allegedly assaulted by three policemen in front of her daughters in 2021. The commission told the government to recover the amount from the policemen — Rs 1 lakh from a sub-inspector and Rs 50,000 each from two constables.
The SHRC also recommended disciplinary action against the three personnel, identified as S Harikannan, sub-inspector, and R Saravanakumar and S Pandiyaraj, the constables. The trio was attached to the Kovilpatti West station at the time of the incident. According to the order, the three entered her house after 11 pm without any female police around and questioned her about a relative who was accused of an assault case, suspecting that she had sheltered him.
“As they failed to obtain any information on the whereabouts of the accused, the trio allegedly abused her in filthy language, assaulted her, and removed her clothes in front of her two daughters, one of whom is a special child. The personnel also allegedly snatched Rs 15,000 from her and took away two mobile phones. The ordeal continued for about one-and-a-half hours,” the complainant noted.
Though the trio denied the allegations, Kannadasan, after a detailed inquiry, held that the trio had violated the human rights of the complainant. He recommended that the state government pay the compensation to the woman within a month.
It may be noted that during a hearing on November 22, 2024, the victim alleged that the police threatened her to withdraw the complaint at the Tirunelveli circuit house, where the SHRC hearing was held. Taking serious note of this, Kannadasan issued a stern warning, stating that severe punishment would follow if such intimidation continued.