Eighty-four-year-old Bharathiyamma from Kunissery, who faced legal proceedings for over four years as a result of a mistaken identity in a case involving another woman by the same name, has complained against the police to the State Police Chief and the State Human Rights Commission.
Bharathiyamma has alleged that she was threatened the other day by a four-member police team who claimed they represented the District Police Chief’s office.
In the complaint, her brother Kochu Krishnan said that the police team had one sub-inspector and a woman civil police officer in it.
The Crime Branch, following a departmental inquiry into the octogenarian’s incrimination on a mistaken identity, had recommended action against the police officers responsible for it. The Crime Branch officer who investigated the incident found serious lapses on the part of a few police officers.
Bharathiyamma said that the police team that approached her the other day had asked her to endorse a statement that she had no complaint against the police and that she did not require any compensation for her suffering. They reportedly threatened her with dire consequences when she said that she would not sign without consulting her brother.
Her brother, in his complaint to the Police Chief, has demanded police protection for Bharathiyamma.
Bharathiyamma was incriminated in 2019 in connection with a case of 1998, in which a housemaid named Bharathi had damaged the property of one Rajagopal from Kallikkad. The police arrested Bharathi, who after being released on bail, never turned up.
However, Bharathiyamma was linked with that case on a mistaken identity and she faced four years of legal proceedings. She alleged that the police were responsible for her incrimination.
A court here exonerated Bharathiyamma a few weeks ago after the complainant admitted before the court that she was not the accused.
