T’puram: The state human rights commission has directed the state govt to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a student who was allegedly brutally assaulted by Venjaramoodu SI and four police personnel while he was waiting for a bus on Feb 22, 2023.SHRC chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas ordered that the compensation be paid within six weeks. Govt can subsequently recover Rs 1.6 lakh from the SI and Rs 10,000 each from the four police personnel, in accordance with the law.The order also stipulates that govt must pay interest at 8% if the compensation is not disbursed within the stipulated period. Additional chief secretary of the home department has been directed to submit a report on the action taken in compliance with the order within three months.Justice Thomas expressed surprise that the district police chief had awarded only a relatively lenient punishment of a record warning to the SI, despite reports from the district police chief, state police chief and additional chief secretary acknowledging that the 20-year-old student had been assaulted by the police.The panel has asked govt to review the district police chief’s order. It also directed the state police chief and district police chief to initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the SI and the four police personnel involved, as no disciplinary action had been taken against them.The student sustained injuries to his left hand, the left side of his chest and his right shoulder. Blood was also found dried in his left ear following the assault.In his statement before SHRC, the SI claimed that the police had initiated only lawful proceedings against the student, who had allegedly questioned his dignity in public. However, the complainant said the police took him away in a jeep merely because he had not run away upon seeing them while sitting on a roadside culvert. He also alleged that he was handcuffed.An examination of the police station’s CCTV footage by the commission and govt revealed scenes in which the SI was physically assaulting the student. The commission’s investigation wing also found disciplinary violations on the SI’s part and on the part of other police personnel.The student is a native of Korani Chempakamangalam in the Thiruvananthapuram district.
