In the hours after an activist was molested at the public hearing for the Tamil Nadu government's proposed Pen Monument, she allegedly faced negligence, apathy, shaming, gender-based harassment, and allegations of “political motivation” by the Chennai police. In a complaint filed to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), witnesses who were with the survivor say that the community service register (CSR) receipt was handed to them only after a 7-hour delay. They faced harassment from the police at the Triplicane station, whom they approached at 3.30pm on January 31, the day of the public hearing. Hours later, they were shunted to the All Women's Police Station (AWPS) at Anna Salai, and were finally handed the CSR receipt only by 10.40 pm that night.
Further, the police allegedly insisted on cross questioning the complainant on her “political allegiance” and demanded to know why she had not complained immediately to the police personnel present at the hearing, which took place in Triplicane’s Kalaivanar Arangam.
The public hearing was being conducted for the Muthamizh Arignar Dr Kalaignar Monument, proposed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led state government. Planned as a 50-feet pen-shaped sculpture to be constructed within the sea waters of Marina Beach in Chennai, the monument has faced stiff opposition from local fishing communities and environmentalists, who fear destruction to marine life.
The complaint to the SHRC quotes the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) MS Bhaskar as having said to the complainant, “Had you not mentioned the name of a particular political party, and referred to the molesters as 'unidentified persons in the crowd', our officials would have readily issued the CSR. Since the particular political party's name was mentioned, the complaint may be diverted as political vendetta and hence it was necessary that you give us at least 10 hours to issue a CSR.” The complaint explains that as she was unable to note the faces of the perpetrators in the crowd, she had named the party based on the slogans they were raising.
The complaint also notes that her “political allegiance” was questioned multiple times in a manner that “signalled to us that all the police officials concerned had come to a foregone conclusion about the veracity of the complaint.” It adds that ACP MS Bhaskar had discouraged her from pursuing the registration of a CSR saying, “Even if the assailants were to be identified, this complaint stands the risk of being dismissed as stemming from political vendetta.” It further notes that this behaviour amounted to “intimidation and coercion to drop the case.”
Circle Inspector (CI) Kalaiselvi, at the Triplicane police station, questioned the complainant on why she had not complained immediately to the police personnel stationed at the public hearing’s venue, the statement says. It also adds that the complainant “felt distressed and demeaned at being asked such a question. Besides being insensitive, the question implied that the police personnel expected [someone] who had just survived a physical harassment, to think and act with utmost preparedness.” It further explains that there were no female police personnel near the stage at the time and that she had been too perturbed emotionally as soon as the molestation occurred.
CI Kalaiselvi refused to hand over the CSR receipt without consulting the ACP. After this, according to the complaint, the CI told the complainant that the receipt would not be provided without reviewing CCTV footage from the venue. The complainant, however, had already been informed by a different police officer that the auditorium, where the hearing took place, did not have CCTV cameras or that they were not functioning.
She was then asked to go to the All Women’s Police Station at Anna Salai, which shares its reception area with the Anna Salai D2 police station. There, past 9 pm, a constable from the Anna Salai police station shouted at her for sitting cross-legged, telling her to “sit modestly and respectfully.” He also intimidated her by saying that he had the right to tell her how to sit in “their station” and that “you cannot sit in any other manner if you want our cooperation”, the complaint says. The harassment about her posture was repeated hours later by the station inspector SA Veerachamy, who allegedly said that she must know the rules about sitting “modestly and humbly” in a police station.
According to the complaint, he even said, “If you do not understand these rules of modesty, it only means that you are suffering from some kind of a mental illness.” Veerachamy, the complaint further states, persisted in harassing the complainant and resorted to intimidations of “lodging petty cases against” against her and her companions.
The CSR receipt was finally handed over to the complainant at 10.40pm, the statement says. It adds that when she was preparing to leave the police station, Veerachamy berated her again for not having complained at the venue itself to the police personnel deployed there.