Alleging that the Andhra police was harassing him, Pidatala Satyam Babu, who was falsely accused in the murder and rape of a 19-year-old girl student in Vijayawada, has approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Thursday seeking its intervention.
Satyam Babu alleged that the Nandigama police, who had opened a rowdy sheeter case against him in 2012 while he was serving time in Rajahmundry jail, have been making frequent, untimely visits to his house and harassing him to submit his Aadhaar card and other identity cards.
He told media, “At nights, the police knock on my door and ask me to come to the police station and meet the Inspector. My sister and family are scared with these untimely visits.”
“Though the court had declared that I’m innocent and there are no pending cases against me, the police continue to harass me,” he added.
In a petition to the National Commission for SCs, he wrote, “Police authorities of Krishna district are continuously harassing the complainant under the guise of rowdy sheet.”
Satyam Babu wrote that though he approached the Nandigama police to drop the case numerous times in view of the High Court judgement which declared him ‘not guilty’, they continued to harass him. “The acts of the police come under the rights of Scheduled Caste persons and the same attracts provisions under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act,” he wrote.
He asked the Commission to intervene and ask the Andhra DGP RP Thakur to drop the case.
Satyam Babu was caught and imprisoned in a sensational case that took place in Vijayawada on December 27, 2007. The police had falsely accused him in the rape and murder of the pharma student, and he was sentenced to life by the Mahila Sessions Court Vijayawada. After being jailed for 8 years, the Hyderabad High Court acquitted him in March 2017 and found that the police had falsely implicated him.
The Court had also asked the government to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation for the costs incurred by Satyam Babu, and initiate proceedings against the erring officers who had falsely charged him. The Court had observed that he could initiate separate proceedings for compensation for being framed for the crime.
Under detention, the police had allegedly subjected him to third-degree torture to extract a confession of the crime from him. This extreme torture inflicted on him prevents him from carrying out normal tasks.
Satyam Babu told media that he was unable to work anywhere because of his physical condition and also that nobody was willing to employ him because he still carried the ‘stain’ of being accused of murder.