‘I will never forget that day’: Police fabricated story about erased CCTV footage, says Shaimol

Kochi: “I followed my husband to the police station in an autorickshaw after seeing him being taken away in a police vehicle. When I reached the station, I saw policemen beating my husband. I entered the station asking why they were assaulting him. An argument followed. They grabbed me, pushed me, and slapped me,” says Shaimol, who was assaulted last year at the Ernakulam North Police Station.

Shaimol was pregnant at the time. It was then-SHO KG Prathapachandran who pushed and slapped her. Shaimol is the wife of Benjo Baby, who runs Ben Tourist Home and Hotel opposite the railway station near the North Police Station. The CCTV footage of the incident that took place on June 19, 2024, was handed over to the complainants following a directive from the High Court.

The Ben Tourist Home run by Benjo and Shaimol is just about 150 metres from the North Police Station, and the family also lives there. It was right under the nose of the police station that the couple fought against the denial of justice by the police.

After being assaulted at the station, Shaimol was admitted to hospital and filed a complaint. The police then came up with another fabricated story, she says, falsely implicating her in a case. “They charged me with scratching the CI and damaging furniture at the station. When both of us were assaulted and falsely booked in cases, we decided to come out and fight for justice,” Shaimol said.

They first approached the High Court seeking the CCTV footage. Meanwhile, they also filed a private complaint before the ACJM court, naming the CI as the accused. The court had earlier directed that CCTV footage from the station for June 19–20, 2024, be preserved. Eventually, the court ordered that the footage be handed over to the complainants.

The case filed before the ACJM court alleging assault by the CI is still pending. The couple said they would continue their fight for justice.

How the incidents began:

According to the couple, the chain of events began two days before the assault at the station, when Benjo recorded on his mobile phone visuals of police beating two employees of a nearby hotel. The policemen noticed Benjo recording the incident. Subsequently, the police registered a case alleging obstruction of official duty, naming the two hotel employees as the first and second accused and Benjo as the third accused.

Two days later, the police again came to their shop. The couple said the police demanded the video footage recorded earlier. When Benjo refused to hand it over, he was taken to the station. Shaimol, who followed the police jeep in an autorickshaw, saw policemen assaulting her husband at the station. When she questioned them, she was pushed and slapped.

After Shaimol was hospitalised, the police registered a case against her as well, alleging that she created a ruckus at the station and attacked the CI.

This forced the family to approach the court to bring out the truth. Meanwhile, the couple filed a complaint before the Ernakulam ACJM court alleging assault by the CI. Shaimol also gave her statement before the magistrate. Alongside this, they approached the High Court through advocate RV Galen seeking the CCTV footage. Though several excuses were raised to withhold the footage, it was finally handed over by Thursday following the court’s order. The case in which the CI is an accused is still pending before the magistrate court.