TENKASI: A woman belonging to a scheduled caste (SC) community alleged two of her relatives were arrested by the Kadayam police, based on a false theft complaint filed by the wife of a police special sub-inspector.
The duo has been in jail since April 12 on charges of stealing Rs 500 from the SSI’s wife.
Addressing the media, the woman, R Simmi, said, “On April 12, my relatives Bavani and Anjali, and I were travelling on a private bus from Surandai to Kadayam to collect used clothes from houses. The SSI’s wife J Paulthai was also on the bus. When Anjali sat next to Paulthai, the latter asked her to sit elsewhere. Anjali refused to move, while Bavani and I were moved to another seat. When the bus reached Mayilappapuram, Paulthai alighted.
However, at the next stop, she was waiting along with her son and two police personnel, who stopped the bus. Paulthai entered the bus and was searching for her purse. The bus conductor found it lying on the floor and handed it to her.”
“However, alleging Anjali had stolen the purse, they made her disembark. They took the three of us to the police station and made us sit there for hours. The police arrested Bavani and Anjali under Section 379 of the IPC, charging the duo stole the purse. They were sent to Kokkirakulam jail by the judicial magistrate on April 12,” she added.
Simmi requested the district administration to take steps to cancel the FIR.
When contacted, SP TP Suresh Kumar told TNIE he had instructed the police officials to conduct an inquiry. He also claimed that one of the two suspects had a previous case against her.