The camera is looking into a car, and music plays in the background. Inside the car, in the cupholder in front, is a beer bottle. The person holding the camera lifts the beer bottle for a better view, and puts it back where it came from. When the camera pulls out, a man’s voice can be heard, questioning the person holding the camera: “Who are you? Why are you now checking the car? What is the problem?”
And then, the man – now partially in the camera’s field of view – utters an absolutely entitled line: “Her father is the DGP. Now, what is your problem?”
This is the beginning of an interaction between a police constable in Chennai, and a couple -- reportedly the daughter and son-in-law of ADGP Tamilselvan. A video shot by the constable has now gone viral, raising questions about the entitled behaviour of the top cop’s family members, and also why the constable was shooting a video in the first place.
When the man said, “Her father is the DGP. Now, what is your problem?” the constable on the scene was unperturbed. “Whose father is the DGP?” he asks. “Her father,” the man then points to a person who cannot be seen on screen.
“What is your problem now? No tell me, what is the problem? Why are you checking the vehicle like this?” the man asks.
“Of course we check vehicles,” the constable replies, and the man retorts angrily. The man then asks his wife, who cannot be seen yet, to ‘make a call.’ The constable holds his ground. “Go ahead and call. My name is Karthikeyan, tell him,” he says.
In an argument that followed, the constable kept repeating there was nothing wrong with him checking the vehicle, to which the man replies, “You can come and check if I am drunk. But why would you check the vehicle? Why should you check the vehicle?”
“You have no qualification to speak at all…” the man then proclaims, even as the constable asks him not to shout.
By then, a woman’s voice can be heard, and the camera pans to her. “Don’t record it. I’ll call my father, don’t record it,” she says to the constable.
“You’ll get into trouble, do you understand? Don’t record!” she says. “Do not record, hello!” she screams, and then swears and asks her husband, “Is this guy mad?”
By now, the constable is walking around the car – a Ford Endeavour – shooting it from all angles. The woman follows him and asks, “Who are you? What is your name? Stop recording!”
To this, the constable replies, “You’re talking too much madam. He’s talking too much. I’m not going to just take whatever you say.”
“I’ll call – what is your problem? Do you want to be removed from this duty?” the woman then asks. “What is your name?” she questions him. When the camera then pans to her face, she again says, “Do not take photos. Do not take a video.”
“What the hell! He can’t take a video!” she then exclaims to the people with her.
Her husband then asks the constable if he’s taking a video. When the constable confirms that yes, he was in fact taking a video, the woman asks, “Why are you shooting a video? You want to upload on the internet is it?”
“Don’t you want your job?” she asks him. “Don’t take a video!”
“Why not?” the constable asks, and the video ends there.
The clip, that has now gone viral, has stirred several debates and discussions on the issue. While it is unclear what the premise of the situation is, sources say that the woman and her husband were in the car, along with another couple. The car was parked near the Neelankarai beach when the policeman questioned them.
Many people have condemned the couple for their entitled behaviour – especially the man, who is seen as an instigator in the situation. Are the family members of top cops supposed to be above and beyond the law, they question.
Others ask why the policeman was taking a video in the first place, which is what got the woman angry. However, according to sources, following the self immolation of a taxi driver in Chennai after he was allegedly insulted by a policeman, all police officials have now been asked to wear body cameras, or shoot their questioning.