Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, Jul 5: A man and his wife committed suicide inside their residence at Changanassery, Kottayam. Their bodies were found lying in their house at 3 pm on Wednesday July 4.
The deceased have been identified as Sunil Kumar, a goldsmith by profession and resident of Idavalanjizhil House, Puzhavathu in Changanassery, and his wife, Reshma.
Reportedly, the duo was manhandled by the police during the course of questioning. The two felt insulted and humiliated because of this development, which prompted them to kill themselves, sources stated. There has been widespread criticism of the police relating to these deaths. In the recent past, police personell from the state have faced bitter criticism in various circles for their crude style of handling cases.
In the backdrop of this incident, a police sub-inspector was transferred.
It is said that Sunil was accused of stealing 600 grams of gold which went missing from the jewellery factory by the owner of the entity, Saji Kumar, a CPM councillor. Changanassery police had registered the case based on complaint made by Saji Kumar and were investigating. In the course of investigation, they had summoned Sunil Kumar and his wife to the police station where the couple was interrogated for 12 hours, sources said. It is said that the police brutally handled the couple during the questioning and sent them away with a stern instruction to either return the said gold or pay eight lac rupees in cash before Wednesday evening or face consequences.
Sunil, it is said, was totally dismayed and disturbed at the turn of events. The couple apparently ended their lives before the deadline set for return of jewellery. A relative of Sunil, identified as Anil, said that earlier to the suicide on Wednesday, Sunil had spoken to him about the incident. He said that after returning home, Sunil phoned him to say that he was leaving behind a suicide note. He said he then contacted Saji Kumar, but Saji said he did not care whether Sunil was alive or died, duly expressing the opinion that Sunil was just playing out a drama to deceive others.
On Wednesday itself, Changanassery police sub-inspector, Shamir Khan, was transferred after the above suicides. It is said that the higher officials found fault with the way he handled this case. As charges of police torture were levelled, investigation into it was entrusted to a deputy superintendent of police. It has been decided to conduct examination of the bodies in the presence of revenue division officer, while postmortem would be conducted by police surgeons of Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Opposition parties in the state including Congress and Kerala Congress (M) protested against the alleged police torture and called for Hartal in Changanassery taluk on Thursday. Congress workers led a protest march to Changanassery police station. Congress MLA, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, speaking on the occasion, accused the police of overstepping their role as investigators and taking upon themselves the onus of being mediators.
In the recent past, police personnel in Kerala have been facing a barrage of charges for excesses and improper probes. The chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, who holds home portfolio, has often been blamed for allowing honour killings, kidnaps, death in police custody, mistaken identity etc go unhindered due to the non-efficient police department.