The visuals of a man rushing across a bridge, carrying his aged father in his arms, his elderly mother rushing along clutching several bags in her hands, has caused much concern in Kerala.
48-year-old Roy, an auto driver from Punalur in Kollam district had never met the police officer before. Roy told the media that he did not notice the police officer's name, but he wondered why anyone would behave in such an inhumane manner to a stranger in need of help.
"My father George who is 88 year old. He was admitted to the hospital on Easter day. He was diabetic, has high blood pressure and also had a urinary tract infection. He got discharged from hospital on Wednesday morning. My mother called me and asked me to pick them up", Roy explains. This is why Roy started from his house in his auto rickshaw. However, he was stopped near the Thookupalam or bridge, which is around a kilometre away from the Punalur Taluk hospital where George and his 83-year-old mother Leelamma were waiting for Roy.
A police officer who first questioned him was convinced with Roy's reason to venture out in his auto and allowed him to pass. But another senior police officer arrived when he was just about to leave and asked him park the auto. The officer, Roy says, was just not ready to listen to him.
#WATCH Kerala: A person carried his 65-year-old ailing father in Punalur & walked close to one-kilometre after the autorickshaw he brought to take his father back from the hospital was allegedly stopped by Police, due to #CoronavirusLockdown guidelines. (15.4) pic.twitter.com/I03claE1XO
— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2020
"I kept on pleading with him. I cried and begged him to allow me to take the vehicle. He just turned away and did not listen to me at all. Then I walked a kilometre and reached the hospital and took a letter from them to prove that I was not lying. I walked back and showed the letter to the officer. But he refused to take a look. I was helpless and my father was waiting in a wheel chair with my aged mother," Roy explains, his voice breaking.
Roy went back to the hospital and another auto driver near the hospital helped him to travel about 200 meters towards the bridge where his vehicle was parked.
"The auto driver was scared to go beyond that due to police presence. This is when I had to carry my father. First he slipped and fell, then I removed his shirt and carried him for more than half a kilometre. He weights around 80 kg, I don't know how I was able to do it. My mother followed us. This officer was watching me from the other end of the bridge," Roy said.
Even after reaching the vehicle the officer was reluctant to help them, alleges Roy. But by then a few TV cameras that were already on the bridge to cover the traffic block spotted Roy.
"There were vehicles parked in front and behind my auto. A few media people and residents stepped in and asked vehicle owners to move. Finally I was able to leave with my family. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I have no idea what made him do that to me," Roy said.
The incident came despite repeated warnings by Pinarayi Vijayan that police should not be harsh to people in need of help.
Following the furore, rural SP Harishankar told media that DySP B Vinod was being assigned to probe the issue. He also said that Roy's vehicle was blocked as he did not have the necessary papers.
Roy told TNM that the police officer never asked him for any documents, and he had them all.
And Roy was not alone. On Wednesday, another serious allegation was raised against a policeman in Punalur that he made a couple and their month-old baby with breathing difficulties wait for hours at the police station compound.
Biju, an auto driver had dropped his sister Viji, her husband Aneesh and their infant at a hospital in Punalur on Wednesday morning. When he came out of the hospital, his vehicle was seized by Punalur police.
"I told them that I had to take the family back home, but they seized my auto. My sister and her husband later came to the police station to explain the situation, but the officer did not leave us," Biju told TNM.
The family was made to wait from 11.30 am to 4 in the evening.
Speaking to media, Punalur Station House Officer Binu Varghese said that he did not ask Biju's family to stay back. He also claimed that the vehicle was seized because Biju did not have a lockdown affidavit with him.