“We have no choice, but to serve the society and to serve with dignity, we have to respect their (citizen) dignity at any cost,” said the message Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar sent to his colleagues over WhatsApp, after a city policeman detained and humiliated an elderly couple.
Chilkalguda Police Sub-Inspector Rajesh — who has now been suspended — reportedly received a complaint about a property dispute on May 7, which was civil in nature. The SI allegedly brazenly took the side of the opposition party and acting at their behest, slapped the man and detained him. When his wife reached the police station, even she was given the same treatment and was confined illegally for nearly half an hour, without allowing her to reach out to her lawyer or relatives.
Disturbed over the humiliation at the hands of the SI and his subordinates, the couple approached the Commissioner on May 9. Disappointed with the behaviour of the SI, the Commissioner suspended him and then later reached out to his colleagues in his jurisdiction to remind them of the role and responsibility of the police in a civil society.
In a three-minute long audio message shared via WhatsApp, he said, “Friends, one incident has come to our notice which has caused big disappointment and pain inside me. Two days back when I was sitting late in my office, a middle-aged couple came to see me. It was almost 9.30 pm. The lady was in tears while explaining the whole episode. A well-educated, self-respecting family had their first interaction with the police and this is how it happened. In a civil dispute, the husband was picked from the house and brought to the police station and kept in the lock-up. He was slapped before his wife, by the local Sub-Inspector before bringing him to the police station. When the wife reached the police station, the lady constable behaved rudely with her. She was also detained at the police station for 30 minutes and she was not even allowed to make any phone calls to any of her relatives or any advocate.”
“The police team which had gone to the residence of the family was not in a police car. It was the car of the rival party. What impression will it give? Where is the sense of justice? Before the other party, this family was humiliated. My dear officers, please think about it. Ask your conscience what image we are creating for ourselves if we continue to do this kind of incidences,” he added.
“Is it what the society expects from us? Is it what the government expects from us? It is a disappointment which I am sharing with all. We have no choice, but to serve the society and to serve with dignity, we have to respect their dignity at any cost,” the Commissioner concluded.