KOCHI: During his 32 years of service with the police department, 55-year-old Stanley Xavier has never had to receive a memo. But an incident that happened on March 31, 2011, at Mulanthuruthy turned his life upside down. Now, with just a year left for retirement, Stanley is still fighting the case in connection with the incident that inspired Shahi Kabir to pen the film Nayattu directed by Martin Prakkat.
Stanley is one of four policemen facing criminal charges over the accident that resulted in the death of two children when the car in which he and his colleagues were travelling fatally knocked them down. The accident took place when the policemen were returning after attending a farewell celebration of their colleague. A case under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was levelled against the policemen who were forced to go underground for over 100 days till the Supreme Court granted them bail.
“What really inspired me is the circumstances that resulted in the department launching a manhunt for its own officials. I came to know more about the incident from another police officer. But I took the liberty of a writer to fictionalise it,” said Shahi Kabir, who has taken a sabbatical from the police job to get into writing.
After watching Nayattu, Stanley could relate many scenes from the movie with his life and recalls the harrowing time he and his colleagues — P G Ajikumar of Mulakulam, K M Sojan of Kannur, R Vijayan of Vaikom — underwent when the department launched a manhunt to nab them after the issue became political amid huge protests by an outfit.
“We don’t know why the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was levelled against us in the accident case. We were just passengers in the taxi hired and driven by another person at the time of the accident. There was enough evidence to prove that. The court hearing the case has already dropped that particular Act and now only IPC 304 is standing,” said Stanley, who is attached to the Vaikom police station.
He said he considered suicide on many occasions but the very thought of his family gave him strength to fight the case legally.“We lost hope when the Kerala High Court denied us bail. But we weren’t ready to give up and moved the Supreme Court, which granted us bail. We hired the car from the Piravom taxi stand and the driver, Shine Raj, is also facing trial,” Stanley recalled.
He said the peculiar circumstances at the time forced them to fight for bail before being arrested. “Life became hell for us and our family members. We knew something wasn’t right. Nobody was ready to accept the truth. We have been pushed into debt fighting the case,” he said. He now has no complaints and wishes to leave the incident behind as one of the darkest episodes in his life. While Sojan is due to retire this month from Idukki, the other two have some more time left in service.