The RTI, it appears, has come to the aid of a poor woman in Theni district to substantiate her charge that policemen in Kadalmalaikundu station raped and assaulted her.
P Vasanthi, 27, was picked up from Nariyoothu bus stand by two cops late night of February 11 this year and forcibly taken to the station in an autorickshaw, along with her three-year-old son. She was raped by the inspector even though she pleaded she was menstruating, the victim said in her complaint sent to the state DGP, the National Human Rights Commission and the Women’s Commission two weeks ago.
According to A. Kathir, director of Evidence, when her earlier complaints to the authorities failed to evoke response, his rights NGO took up her case and petitioned the Madurai bench of the Madras high court.
“We also obtained RTI evidence of police brutality from the records of the prison medical officer and the Trichy government hospital. These doctors had attended to Vasanthi and recorded that she bore multiple injuries, especially from her waist down to the legs. Also, the doctors had found her face was swollen and the left ear badly hurt”, Kathir told Deccan Chronicle.
He said now that Vasanthi was armed with the RTI evidence, her case against the police had become stronger and she expected justice, albeit delayed.
“Her case must be probed by CB-CID. She was abused in front of her child and was threatened not to talk to anyone about the incident”, Kathir said.
Theni SP Praveen Kumar Abhinapu said he was not aware of the RTI revelations. “We have not filed FIR because her complaint was baseless. And now that the matter is before the court, I shall not comment”, he said.
He claimed that some members of the public had complained that they caught Vasanthi when she tried to rob an elderly woman.