Accusations of sexual exploitation against police officers put Kerala govt on the defensive

Kerala government faces backlash as woman accuses police officers of sexual exploitation, sparking political turmoil and investigations.

The Kerala government appeared to have found itself on the defensive on Friday (September 6, 2024) after a woman accused at least three police officers who served in Malappuram in 2022 of sexually exploiting her. 

The woman came on several news channels on Friday, her face blurred, to level grave accusations of abuse and exploitation against the then District Police Chief, Malappuram, Sujith Das, DySP, Thiroor, V.V. Benny, and Circle Inspector Ponnani Valiyatoor.

 She said she had broached the matter with Left Democratic Front (LDF) Independent legislator P.V. Anvar and had found the courage to publicly air her grievance after the MLA complained against Mr. Das to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. 

The fresh set of accusations surfaced on a day when the Congress is taking out a march to the Secretariat demanding Mr. Vijayan’s resignation in the wake of Mr. Anvar’s bombshell accusations of criminality and corruption against the Chief Minister’s political secretary, P. Sasi, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, and Mr. Das. 

The CPI(M) State Secretariat is also meeting at the AKG Centre amid speculation that the party will likely consider Mr. Anvar’s issues raised against the police and Mr. Sasi.

On Thursday, the government suspended Mr. Das from service pending a detailed enquiry after a preliminary police probe into Mr. Anvar’s accusations disfavoured the officer. 

Mr. Das and Mr. Benny countered the accusations, terming these “false and malicious.”