Kerala Couple End Life after Interrogation by Police in Gold Missing Case
Kottayam-Kerala: Death of a couple at Changanacherry in Kottayam district following questioning in a gold theft case has brought Kerala police under fire again. Sunil Kumar (34) and his wife Reshma (24) were found dead in their house at Puzhavth two days after they were questioned by police on a complaint lodged by ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader regarding missing of 600 grams of gold from his jewellery making unit at Changanacherry.
The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has alleged police torture behind the death and has called for a shut-down strike at Changanacherry on Thursday, July 5. Kottayam district police chief has transferred Changanacherry sub-inspector Shameer Khan in connection with the incident. Crime Records Bureau deputy superintendent has been asked to inquire into allegations of police torture. The inquest will be prepared in the presence of revenue divisional officer and the post-mortem examination will be held by a team of police surgeons at Kottayam Medical College.
Sunil, who was working as a goldsmith in the jewellery making unit of Saji Kumar, a CPM councillor at Changanacherry municipality, was summoned by the police on Monday on the CPM leader’s complaint. Sunil, who was accompanied by his wife, was questioned by the police for more than 12 hours. His relatives alleged that the police had brutally assaulted him several times when he denied any knowledge about the missing gold. Anil, a close relative of Sunil, told Media that the couple was asked to produce the missing gold or give Rs.8 lakh as compensation.
Anil said that Sunil was in a shattered position when he returned home and had even hinted about the suicide when he talked to him on Wednesday. The couple was found dead in their rented house at 3 pm. The incident evoked protests from opposition parties. Youth Congress workers staged a march to the police station accusing the police of torturing the couple to death. They demanded stern action against the police officials involved in the torture.
The fresh allegation of police torture comes after the state was rocked by the custodial death of Sreejith at Varappuzha in Ernakulam district five months ago in a case of mistaken identity. They are in a series of several torture incidents reported across the state since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power in May 2016. Curiously, the fresh incident has come after the police were given behavioural training to prevent manhandling of people taken into custody by the police.
Source: The South Indian Post
