Chennai: 2 police officials taken off duty for driving woman to death

Chennai: Two police officials were taken off duty Wednesday after audio recordings of a woman’s anguished account of the torture she had gone through at their hands at the Thiruverkadu station went viral. Victim Renuka, 34, died of burn injuries sustained when she immolated herself outside the station unable to bear the trauma inflicted upon her by the cops ‘investigating’ a petty quarrel between the woman and her neighbour. 

Chennai police commissioner A.K. Viswanathan has ordered Inspector Alexander and Sub-Inspector Saravanan be transferred out of the station and placed on ‘compulsory wait’ after listening to the audio clips of submitted to him by Renuka’s husband Gajendran and her sister Shanta in the morning. They told the Commissioner they would not receive her body from the Kilpauk Government Hospital until action is taken against the ‘cruel’ cops at the station.

In one audio clip, Renuka is heard pleading her case at the police station and the cops threatening her of arrest if she raised her voice. Inspector Alexander is allegedly heard even saying she would be “thrown in jail in a prostitution case”. “You do not know the power I wield. I will put you in jail and your husband will have to take you out on bail”, says the voice allegedly of the inspector.

In the other audio clip, Renuka in noticeable pain is heard telling her husband to “fight for justice, come what may”. She mentioned the names of the police she alleged had taken bribes to support the other party in the dispute. This conversation happened even as the woman was being rushed in an autorickshaw to the hospital with over 80 per cent burns Tuesday evening. 

Renuka died Wednesday morning. The family received the body late Wednesday evening after Commissioner Viswanathan intervened and ordered action against the two cops who had allegedly abused the woman and driven her to suicide. After the first bout of angry shouting by them while ‘investigating’ the complaint given by neighbour Amirthavalli over a petty issue, Renuka was told by the cops to go home and return at 3 pm. The distraught woman came back with a can of petrol, doused herself outside the police station and lit a match.

Policemen put out the flames and thereafter let the husband rush her in an auto to the hospital. There were reports that police might have sided with Amirthavalli as she was politically connected.