TENKASI: A policeman attached to the Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) allegedly demanded sex from a woman belonging to the Narikurava community, threatening her with a lathi in an inebriated state at the Sankarankovil bus stand here on Thursday.
However, the Sankarankovil police let off the accused cop identified as Ramachandran without registering any case against him. In video footage which went viral on social media, Ramachandran in civilian clothes was seen with a lathi dragging a woman with disability from the Narikurava community.
In the video, passengers at the bus stand were seen preventing the accused from reaching the victim and taking away a liquor bottle which he hid inside his shirt. “The policeman was asking us to send a woman with him for sex stating that he would pay for it,” said a person from the Narikurava community.
But the Sankarankovil police sent him away to his native place of Sillikulam by bus without taking any action. Asked if the police would act against the accused, Suguna Singh, Superintendent of Police, said the accused cop was not working under him.
“Our department will prepare a report on the incident and submit it to the TSP’s higher officials. We have taken this matter very seriously and the Sankarankovil police will act against him if anyone submits a complaint against Ramachandran who is on medical leave at present,” he added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Narayanan, a resident of Sankarankovil, alleged that the police are acting in favour of the accused person as he is a policeman.
“Why do the police wait for someone to file a complaint to take action against Ramachandran while the video clearly shows his wrongdoing? Is forcing a woman not a crime if it is done by police personnel? Police think that since the victim is from the Narikurava family, no one is going to question their act. The police should arrest Ramachandran if they really want to recover their image which was ruined after the Sathankulam incident,” he said.