The Kerala government’s Home Department has allocated Rs 1.75 lakh to a minor girl and her father who were wrongfully accused of theft in public by a Pink police officer last year. In the sensational case, in which the Dalit girl and her father were harassed by the officer in Thiruvananthapuram district’s Attingal, the Kerala High Court had in December 2021 directed the government to pay compensation. The Home Department has now allotted Rs 1.75 lakh, including court expenses, as compensation and said that the money will be claimed from the Pink police officer. The family has not received the money yet.
The family had moved the court seeking compensation. Initially the government refused to give compensation by defending the police officer, claiming that she did not misbehave or do anything that could have caused mental agony to the little girl. The HC had observed that the officer did not even apologise to the child. Following this, the officer wrote an apology, but the court directed the government to pay compensation.
The incident occurred on August 27 last year when Attingal resident Jayachandran and his eight-year-old daughter had gone to Moonumukku to watch the movement of a massive cargo to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thumba. It was at that time that Rejitha, a Pink police officer who was deployed to assist in traffic regulation, accused the duo of stealing her mobile phone from a police vehicle.
In a video which went viral, the officer and her colleague were seen harassing Jayachandran and his daughter and even frisking him. The child broke down amid their harassment. However, when an onlooker dialled the number of the officer, the mobile phone was found in the police vehicle, following which the police team left the scene without even tendering an apology to the father and daughter.
As part of disciplinary action, the woman officer was transferred and the state police chief directed that she undergo behavioural training. The court had earlier said that the incident occurred as the officer was “drunk on power”. It added that the Pink police officer’s conduct indicated “pure ego and arrogance of the khaki”.