KOCHI: As Kerala boasts of being the best in the country for medical facilities and policing, a 35-year-old woman working at a supermarket had to wait for more than 12 hours to get a CT scan done, that too at private hospital, and the police to register a case after being brutally attacked by a colleague’s husband with his helmet at Tripunithura on Tuesday.
In the attack, the right hand of Shiji Sudhilal, a native of Malekkad near Udayamperoor, was fractured and she suffered bruises on her head and shoulders. Joy Thomas, the owner of Prime supermarket and eyewitness of the incident, said Shiji was attacked brutally by Satheesh, husband of another employee, Sujitha.
According to him, Shiji would have lost her life had people in the supermarket not intervened. “I have never seen anyone beating another person in such a brutal manner. He hit Shiji with the helmet and she was hit on the head and shoulder four to five times. After we pulled Suresh back, he tried to flee by starting his motorbike parked outside, but we removed the key to block him till the police arrived. However, he walked away with Sujitha when we were attending to Shiji. We could smell liquor, We suspect that he was under the influence of alcohol,” Joy said.
According to him, Shiji attends to home delivery calls from customers and Sujitha works in the data entry section. It is only with permission a personal mobile phone can be used during duty time. The relatives can make a call to the office number in an emergency.
“Between 1pm and 2pm, Satheesh made a call to the mobile phone used for taking home delivery orders handled by Shiji. We came to know that Satheesh informed Sujitha about the death of a relative. Shiji told Satheesh that she would convey the message to Sujitha. However, Satheesh insisted on getting Sujitha on phone and spoke in an abusive manner to Shiji. Around 2.45pm, Satheesh arrived at the supermarket and, without saying anything, started hitting Shiji with the helmet. After Satheesh was pulled back, Shiji fainted and we informed the police,” Joy said.
Nithin Sudhilal, son of Shiji, said though the police officials were informed about the attack, they turned up only 45 minutes after the incident. “After reaching the supermarket, they asked my mother to visit the police station and lodge a complaint. My mother accompanied by the supermarket owner reached the police station and gave a written complaint.
As they were on the way to Tripunithura Taluk Hospital, one of the officers asked my mother whether a case should be registered. They seemed to be not keen on registering an FIR. We heard that Satheesh had absconded. Had the police acted at the right time, he would not have got time to go into hiding and would have been behind the bars by now. When we visited the police station at night, police officers were seen searching for the written complaint given in the afternoon,” Nithin said.
From the police station, Shiji was taken to Tripunithura Taluk Hospital. In the X-ray scan, a bone fracture was found in the right hand. However, the CT scan machine was not working because of which any head injury could not be detected. “Shiji was later shifted first to Ernakulam General Hospital and then to Ernakulam Medical College Hospital where also the scanning could not be carried out as machines were not functioning. Later, she was taken to a private hospital in Vyttila where the CT scanning was done and she returned home at 4.30am on Wednesday,” Joy said.
Following the frequent requests, the police on Wednesday morning registered an FIR on charges of trespassing for assault, causing hurt, causing hurt using dangerous weapons and use of obscene words. Tripunithura MLA K Babu visited the family. He said the police have promised to find the culprit without any delay.
On the other hand, officials at Tripunithura police station denied any delay on their part in registering the case. “We were waiting for an intimation from the hospital to register the FIR. Now, we have taken a case and trying to trace Satheesh. We searched the house where Satheesh was staying at Tripunithura,” an official said.
Women’s panel speaks to police, victim
Kochi: Kerala Women’s Commission said its member Shiji Sivaji spoke to Tripunithura police regarding the status of the case. Shiji also spoke to the victim over phone, said the women’s commission. The panel added it is looking to register a case based on the police investigation.