A police officer in Kasaragod was suspended from service on Friday, October 11, days after an autorickshaw driver died by suicide after posting a distressing Facebook live video accusing the officer of mentally torturing him. The 57-year-old autorickshaw driver Yakoob Abdul Sathar had died on October 7, hours after alleging on video that his vehicle had been impounded over a petty offence, and that the police were refusing to release it and have instead been harassing him for five days.
Among the names Sathar took in the video were that of then Kasaragod Town Sub Inspector (SI) Anoop. On Friday, Anoop was suspended pending inquiry after a different video of him assaulting another autorickshaw driver surfaced. The charges against him include tarnishing the image of the Police department and the use of excessive force on the autorickshaw driver.
In his Facebook live on October 7, Sathar had narrated the incident that drove him to despair in detail, stating that his autorickshaw was confiscated on October 3 allegedly for taking the wrong lane. “I was trying to pass through a road, when a Home Guard came and told me that I cannot go that way. They told me I could neither reverse the vehicle or go forward. Then a Sub Inspector came and took my keys. When people on the road intervened, they took my auto to the police station,” he said in the video.
Things later took a bizarre turn when Sathar went to the police station to retrieve his vehicle. “I was told that I was under arrest and that two people should come and bail me out,” he said.
“I don’t have anyone in Kasaragod,” Sathar said, explaining that his family — his wife Haseena Banu and three children Sana Parveen, Sheik Shaneez, and Shamna Sheik — resided in Mangaluru. His autorickshaw, which he had purchased with the help of a friend, was still registered under his friend’s name.
Sathar said in the video that the police were torturing him, adding that he was a heart patient and did not even have enough money to make both ends meet. “I repay my loans in two instalments. I am unwell, I am a heart patient. I start work around 5 am and return home by 12 pm everyday. Then I cook, eat, and rest for a while before resuming work at 4.30 pm again, and continuing until 10 pm,” he said.
He allegedly took his life after posting the live video.
The news of Sathar’s death sparked widespread outrage in Kasaragod. Autorickshaw drivers in the town stopped work for three hours in protest on October 7, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) organised demonstrations demanding justice for Sathar.
In response to the public outcry, Kasaragod District Police Chief Shilpa Dyavaiah had earlier transferred SI Anoop to the Chandera police station.
It is reported that Sathar had sought help from higher authorities, including from the officer of the Superintendent of Police in Kasaragod. He was directed to meet the Deputy Superintendent of Police, who promised to review the CCTV footage of the incident but allegedly did not follow up.