Coimbatore : Expressing their disapproval over the district police administration, a collective representation of advocates and social activists from the coimbatore have petitioned to the the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Coimbatore : Expressing their disapproval over the district police administration, a collective representation of advocates and social activists from the coimbatore have petitioned to the the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Their petition reads as follows:
We are inviting the attention of the Election Commission of India for taking appropriate action to generate confidence among the people in Coimbatore district, in particular the voters who are going to exercise the valid right to choose their representative to participate in the Parliament of india.
The Police administration in both the constituencies is not maintaining a healthy atmosphere and almost the administration is in the hands of the ruling party in particular the Superintendent of Police R. Pandiarajan is creating a hostile atmosphere and adopting terror tactics only to support the ruling party politicians, hence immediate intervention is required.
We are placing certain relevant facts and particulars regarding the lawlessness generated by such police personnel due to their imaginative ideas, as if they are above the law.
As a test case we have to place the shocking attitude and approaches of the present Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore district, R. Pandiarajan. Pandiarajan, the present SP of Coimbatore district is said to have joined the police force through the Tamilnadu State Public Service Commission as deputy Superintendent of police and it appears he was very sincere and honest in the initial period of his career. It appears gradually he has acquired all magics of corrupt practices.
We state that a First Information Report in Crime No 59 of 2019 was registered in the Pollachi Town East police station on 24.2.2019 under sections 354 A , 354B 394 of IPC, section 66E of the Information Technology Act and Section 4 of the Tamilnadu Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women Act in the Pollachi Town Police Station against the 4 named accused.
Pollachi is a Taluk centre in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu. We gathered the relevant information with regard to this shocking incident, that a young girl student, a victim of sexual assault accompanied by her brother, had lodged a complaint to the police naming 4 persons out of whom 2 were known to her, who had assaulted her sexually and robbed her gold jewel.
The first official response to this incident of sexual assault was on 11.03.2019 by the Coimbatore Rural Superintendent of police.R. Pandiarajan through a press meet. His statement to the press shocked the public and triggered wide spread protests throughout the state as he disclosed the name of the victim who had given the complaint. This action was in gross violation of the provisions of Sections 228 A of the IPC.
As if embarrassed by this incident, the Director General of Police, Tamilnadu Government announced on 12.3.2019 that the investigation was handed over to the CBCID. However, no action was taken against R.Pandiarajan.
It is pertinent to mention that various directions, inter-alia, were issued by the Supreme Court in Nipun Saxena UOI (2019(1)BomCR 807): Direction 3 FIRs relating to offences under sections 376, 376A, 376 B, 376C, 376D,376DA, 376DB or 376E of IPC and offences under POCSO shall not be put in the public domain.
In stark contrast to the callouses of the said Superintendent of Police, K. Pandiarajan, within 24 hours of handing over the case to the CBCID for investigation on 13.03.2019, the Director General of Police made a proposal to the the Chief secretary and Home secretary of Government of Tamilnadu that as the nature of the crime is extremely serious and required more laborious and dedicated investigation with technical expertise, the case be handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Even before the handing over of investigation to the CBCID, the magnitude of the crime was widely known that hundreds of women were victims of sexual assault and blackmail and that a large gang having high political connections was involved in the crime. The immediate transfer of investigation to the CBI underscores the gravity and the magnitude of the crime.
Yet the State Government put the entire investigation in jeopardy by its G.O.Ms.No. 169 dated 13.03.2019 issued by the Home (Police XIII) Department, Home Secretary of Government of Tamilnadu, transferring the investigation in which the name of the victim but also the name of her college and the identity of her brother were disclosed.
This G.O has been issued in gross violation of several orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the most recent being an order dated 11.12.2018 emphasizing Section 228A of the IPC to protect the identity of the victims and their families. This G.O will only reinforce the stigma, harassment and the discrimination that the victims of sexual assault and their families undergo. Also this G.O will be a deterrent to the rest of the victims of sexual assault and blackmail to lodge their complaints and witnesses to come forward to support the victims.
We state that the violations committed by R. Pandiarajan, the Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore Rural in disclosing the identity of the victim of sexual crimes is very serious and the same cannot be treated, as if it is a inadvertent commission but it is a really a calculated move adopted by him only to create a terror atmosphere so that no other victim will dare to disclose the barbarous commissions and omissions of the violators who are very influential persons with political support.
R. Pandiarajan is known for targeting women with his barbarous attitude only to satisfy his masters. On such incident has to be placed on record we have enclosed the DVD recorded the whole barbaric act of R. Pandiarajan as Deputy Superintendent of police.
We state that while he was functioning as a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karumathampatty , in Tiruppur district, he demonstrated his barbarous attitude by violently slapping a lady and ordered police force to attack the innocent women who all were agitating only to shift the liquor shop of the government from that area.
No sane person can say or imagine that the conscious women should not participate in a well organized disciplined agitation only to attract the attention of the authorities concerned to shift the liquor shop which causes various damages to the innocent families and the members of working class.
R. Pandiarajan indulged in showing his brutality by his commission and omission on that day. Even though his commission of attacking the innocent lady by violently slapping on her face while a large number of women where agitating peacefully against the continuance of the liquor shop there. The video recording of the shocking incident is still alive and the YouTube website has put the barbaric incident dated 11.04.2017 to the viewers throughout the world but the offender R. Pandiarajan got promoted as Superintendent of police.
This background well demonstrates that Mr. R. Pandarajan is very influential and continues to maintain the same barbaric attitude. Even though various political parties and organizations organized demonstrations, public meetings and adopted other means of agitations to take appropriate criminal proceedings against him but the Government of Tamilnadu is protecting him.
In such a violate and grim situation that ensued as a result of the identity of the victim being revealed first R. Pandiarajan, the SP of Coimbatore Rural and thereafter by the Government in the aforementioned G.O Madurai Bench of Hon’ble High Court of Madras in W.P. (MD) No. 6238 of 2019 and W.M.P. (MD) Nos. 4980 and 4981 of 2019 dated 15.03.2019 acted promptly to pass an order dated 15.3.2019 to hold that such disclosure of name of the victim was illegal and ultimately harmed the victim.
It therefore ordered the State to pay Rs. 25 lakh to her as compensation. We are told that in and around of Pollachi town there is not less than 20 illegal private bars are being run by anti socials. It is the talk of the Pollachi town that R. Pandiarajan is the sincere adviser to these anti socials who are running the illegal bars.
We need not elaborate to the clever and cunning activities R. Pandiarajan as he is being treated as a noble person to the ruling party politicians. But his continuation as a member of the Tamilnadu police force that too as Superintendent of police is very dangerous and counterproductive.
We state that while we are preparing the representation we received the information with regard to the arrest of one accused named Santhosh kumar, an active member of Bharat Sena known for its religious fanaticism and anti social approaches in his area. Being a member of the scheduled caste that too an Arunthathiar, he and his associates are involved in kidnapping the girl aged 6 years studying first standard on 25.03.2019 at about 6 pm and the said child was gang rapped.
Her mother and other relatives were searching the missing child and reported to the Thadagam police station which comes under Thudialur Circle inspector. The First Information Report recorded by P. Boopathy, Sub inspector of police Thadagam Police Station on 25.03.2019 at 22 hours in Crime no 168 as girl missing and later it was altered on 26.03.2019 at 21 hours as 302 IPC, 376 A of IPC and 5 ( 1) 5 (m) r/w 6 of POCSO Act by the Inspector of police, Thdialur P.S. Even though the informal the mother of that said child had given a clear view with regard to the potential offender as Vijaya kumar and his associates, as she had recovered the T-shirt covering the dead body of the child.
She had specifically told the police that Vijaya kumar and his sister used to wear the T-shirt but just now we have read the Tamil Daily Malai Malar where in it is published the present arrested Santhosh kumar had stated to the police that he had sexually assaulted the child twice earlier.
Now the police version discloses that only a single person has committed the barbarous sexual offence but the available information with regard to the finding in postmortem report it was a gang rape. R. Pandiarajan, the SP announced that if any clue with regard to the killing of the said child is given, the police will give award to the person concerned. This is also a tactful approach adopted by the said SP only to show as if he and other erring associates are very much acting in sincere and honest manner.
Thus it is very clear that R. Pandiarajan the SP and his associates in the police force and in politics are playing dirty games only to cover-up the misdeeds through which they are able to run a parallel administration only to strengthen the lawlessness.
Hence we request the Constitutional Authority to take serious view of the situation prevailing in Coimbatore district of Tamil nadu and if the situation is allowed to continue there cannot be peaceful atmosphere for the voters of both the Constituencies of Pollachi and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to exercise their valid rights of voting and the selecting the candidates for representing the said constituencies in Parliament of india in a fair and independent manner.
Hence we request to intervene at the earliest and get R. Pandiarajan the present SP of Coimbatore Rural shifted to a faraway place and also to take appropriate measures to verify whether other police officials enjoying the power and exercising the same in Coimbatore district are harmless to continue the same posts in the present election atmosphere. We will give full cooperation to the Constitutional Functionary.
We the undersigned advocates and social activists are very much shocked and disturbed due to the criminalized functioning of one section of the police force in the Coimbatore district.
ECI needs to intervene and to create healthy atmosphere for the voters in both constituencies of Coimbatore and pollachi in tamilnadu to exercise their rights in the parliamentary election to be held on 18.04.2019.