VS Achutanandan wants stern action on custodial torture

Kochi: The Cheranellore custodial torture incident reveals the atrocities sometimes indulged in by cops and the need for strict action against the accused, Opposition leader V S Achutanandan said on Sunday. He was speaking to the media after visiting Leeba wife of Ratheesh, a resident of Cheranellor Tunduparambu, undergoing treatment at the Ernakulam General Hospital.

Leeba, who was earlier working as a housemaid at a doctor’s house in Cheranellor, was taken into police custody on August 23 based on a complaint lodged by the house owner that 14 sovereigns of gold ornaments went missing from his house. She was interrogated for two days in police custody but the police failed to recover anything. The women alleged that she was tortured and brutally assaulted while in police custody. She has been undergoing treatment for the past three weeks ever since she had obtained bail from a local court.

The Opposition leader visited her at the hospital at 11.30 am and patiently listened to her ordeal. Leeba told the CPM leader that the cops had sprinkled chilli powder in her eyes and that they assaulted her with boots injuring her spinal cord. VS also made enquiries with her relatives and spoke with the doctors. CPM Area Committee secretary S Krishnamoorthy and Mahila Association state committee member K R Padma were among the leaders who accompanied VS during the visit.