SHRC slaps Rs 1L fine on cops for misbehaving with woman

The complainant, Anthoniammal, is a teacher at a government school in Vazhavallan. She has applied for divorce and is living with her two daughters. According to her, Lazarus and Balasingh, who were residing opposite her house, misbehaved with her and used derogatory words. Even though she went to file a police complaint, an FIR was registered only after the intervention of senior officers.

Later, Lazarus and others allegedly threatened Anthoniammal, stating that they would kill her if she disclosed anything against them in the court. When she filed a complaint about the threat that she was facing, sub-inspector Perumal threatened her, telling her to withdraw the case.

After she sent an appeal to the higher officials, inspector Parthiban called her for an inquiry and allegedly misbehaved with her. When he asked her to sign some papers seeking if the inquiry was conducted properly, she declined. Subsequently, Lazarus and others went to her house when she was away in school and assaulted her daughters, according to sources.

Two days later, sub-inspector Perumal reportedly obtained a false complaint that Anthoniammal and her husband had assaulted a man named Gnanapoo. Even when she was in the hospital, Perumal threatened her to withdraw the complaint lodged against Lazarus and others.

Though the officers denied the allegations against them, the commission, after considering Anthoniammal’s oral and documentary evidence, asked the State to pay Rs 1 lakh to her and recover it from them.