A case of police brutality in Kerala has surfaced after a youth Congress leader obtained a video of him being tortured.

The incident occurred in April 2023 at the Kunnamkulam Police Station, located within the Thrissur city police limits. In the video, the youth Congress leader, identified as VS Sujith, is seen shirtless and surrounded by four policemen, who appear to assault him while he groans in pain.

According to news reports, Sujith claimed, “I was then taken to a room without cameras and assaulted.” He further claimed that prior to the incident, a few police personnel were, “hreatening a group of youngsters standing on the side of the road.”

Sujith added that when he tried to intervene, the police inquired about him and questioned his authority. Following the confrontation, the youth Congress leader was booked for being drunk and public misconduct.

He was granted bail, after a medical examination showed he was not drunk. The victim further alleged that the custodial assault had left him with lasting health issues. “After the torture, I have developed chronic hearing problems, which was confirmed in a medical examination conducted at the court’s direction,” Sujith was quoted as saying by Maktoob media.

Sujith filed an RTI, approached senior police officials seeking action against the “errant” officers, including an inspector, but no steps were taken. Left with no option, he filed a criminal miscellaneous petition in a local court against the four policemen, a case that remains pending.

At the same time, he sought access to the CCTV footage of the incident through the RTI Act. After the police rejected his request, he appealed before the State Information Commission, which eventually ruled in his favour.

Opposition leader V. D. Satheesan criticised the state government on September 2, condemning the alleged police brutality against Youth Congress leader Sujith. “This is yet another brutal atrocity of the Kerala Police. These are not policemen, but criminals in khaki uniform who have no hesitation in turning police stations into killing fields,” Satheesan said.

He alleged that such “criminal gangs” were being nurtured by the CPM and its feeder organisations.

“Sujith’s only crime was questioning the police when they threatened his friends. He was surrounded and beaten inside the station, suffering hearing loss as a result. The police even tried to frame him in a false case, but that attempt failed. The CCTV footage of the 2023 incident was obtained only after a prolonged legal battle under the RTI Act,” he said.

Satheesan held Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan responsible for the police brutality. Warning of political consequences, he added, “If the government continues its usual practice of protecting criminals, the Congress and the UDF will respond strongly.”

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala described the incident as a “heartbreaking sight.” He said that such inhuman officers, who mercilessly thrash innocents in ways that numb human conscience, should not be tolerated in the police force and must be dismissed immediately. Instead, he alleged, that the government protects them, promotes them, and even rewards them.

KSHRC probe in custodial torture

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has taken up a case on its own initiative into the assault of a Youth Congress leader by police at the Kunnamkulam police station in this district two years ago, the commission said on Thursday.

CCTV footage from Kunnamkulam police station surfaced on Wednesday, in which V S Sujith, a local leader of the Youth Congress, was seen being assaulted inside the station by five police officials.

Sujith said he obtained the CCTV footage after a long legal battle through the Right to Information Act (RTI).

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