Chennai: Once again the city police have found themselves in a mess as a 'gang' of traffic police, both men and women, seen beating a youngster for driving two-wheeler without a helmet and carrying two pillion riders, his mother and sister, at T.Nagar in Chennai.
Police brutality was brought out in all its starkness in a 13-second video showing the attack on the boy that took place on Monday evening in T Nagar. Cops are seen trying to break the boy's left hand even as his mother, who had gone shopping along with her son Prakash of Saligramam, screams at them.
The video showed the onlookers were petrified at the police action as three traffic cops continue to beat the motorist unchallenged. One forcibly holds Prakash to a pole, while another twists his hand and a third tries to break it.
The brutal scene also showed that Prakash's mother been howling and begging to let her son go. His sister was shivering. The video also showed a woman traffic police reining in the mother and sister while her colleagues enjoyed the power vested in their uniforms.
However, the city police, in a press statement, claimed that Prakash had allegedly attacked sub-inspector Suresh for slapping a penalty on him for riding without a helmet and carrying 2 pillion riders on Usman Road, opposite Pothys.
The police have also said that Prakash was arrested for attacking policeman and breaking walkie-talkie, a government property. He was remanded to judicial custody, according to the press release.
"What will be the punishment for the policemen who attack a lone man in broad daylight? The police seemed not to mind hundreds of shell-shocked onlookers witnessing the event. This incident would project the department in a very bad light. Police are supposed to be the common man's friend," an activist said.
Although the incident caught wide public attention and brought about a feeling of revulsion about police going berserk like this, the cops involved in the incident seem to have been given immunity against departmental action, at least until the time of going to press.
