Elderly woman alleges assault by police inspector

Santhammal, who had her left hand in a cast, came with her elder son Koteeshwaran to file the petition. On January 30, as she was about to board a bus at Perungalathur, Guduvancherry inspector Govindaraj stopped her twisted her hand, causing the fracture, she alleged.

She added that she was hospitalised for over a week, thus unable to visit the commissioner’s office earlier. 

According to Santhammal, her house owner Kumar had bribed the inspector to evict her from the house without returning the Rs 50,000 she had paid as advance. She also alleged that Kumar snatched her seven sovereign jewels and Rs 1.5 lakh in cash, and threatened her into vacating the house at Mahalakshmi Nagar, Nandivaram in Guduvancherry. 

Hailing from Mylapore, Santhammal had moved to Guduvancherry in 2011 for treatment of her second son Ethiraj at a private hospital in the neighbourhood. She had rented the house for a monthly rent of Rs 5,000. But after her son died in June 2017, Santhammal informed Kumar that she would vacate the house. But he allegedly refused to return the advance amount, and also allegedly took away her jewels and cash, besides throwing her belongings out. She alleges that the house owner also killed her 10 cows. 

When Santhammal approached the police, they allegedly refused to take cognisance of her complaint. When she approached higher officers, inspector Govindaraj allegedly went to the extent of breaking her hand, she said. Santhammal’s son Koteshwaran said they have come to the city commissioner’s office as a last resort.