Thiruvananthapuram: A Crime Branch investigation has revealed that the police had fabricated an entirely false narrative to implicate a Dalit domestic worker in a jewellery theft case. The 36-year-old woman, Bindu, a resident of Panavoor in Thiruvananthapuram, was accused of theft and mentally harassed for over 20 hours at the Peroorkada Police Station.

Bindu had been working in the home of Omana Daniel, a resident of Ambalamukku. The police had initially claimed that jewellery reported missing from the house was later found in a waste bin behind the property, suggesting that Bindu had discarded it. However, the Crime Branch report confirms that the police account was entirely false. In reality, the missing jewellery had been inside the house all along. The homeowner, Omana Daniel, had no explanation for the police claims. The report states that the police concocted the story simply to justify taking Bindu into custody. It also recommended action against Shivakumar, the then SHO of Peroorkada Police Station.

Bindu was held by the police under the allegation of stealing gold jewellery from Omana Daniel’s house. She was kept in the police station overnight without even a drop of water and subjected to mental harassment. Despite repeatedly asserting her innocence, her protests fell on deaf ears. Only after the jewellery was recovered from inside the house hours later was Bindu finally released.

Bindu speaks out: the truth finally revealed

“I kept telling them I didn’t steal the jewellery,” Bindu recounted. “At the police station, they humiliated me, stripped me for a body search. The jewellery had never left the house. The pain I endured there is something I will never forget.”