The facts behind Sunitha Babu’s suicide

Streekkottayma. We should protest Sunitha Babu’s suicide and call for action against the policemen and politicians involved in her custodial torture. Some points to ponder: – It is meaningless to campaign against “violence on women” without addressing the violence perpetrated by the so-called protectors/guardians, which in this case happens to be the police and the […]

Streekkottayma.

We should protest Sunitha Babu’s suicide and call for action against the policemen and politicians involved in her custodial torture. Some points to ponder:

– It is meaningless to campaign against “violence on women” without addressing the violence perpetrated by the so-called protectors/guardians, which in this case happens to be the police and the state machinery.

– What happened to Sunitha reads right out of the Mahabharata. Her long hair was pulled, she was tied up with her hair, she was made to stand in the sun and she was abused. This is NOT interrogation, this is nothing but torture and violence and abuse. The police station has been reduced to a site of torture and a scene of crime.

– To take Sunitha into custody because the police are looking for her husband Babu is in no way admissible. How can a relative be detained or arrested when they are innocent? This is a pattern not only in Kerala but also in Tamil Nadu. This has become a standard code for operation among the policemen, something which is unwritten however. This practice is especially followed to criminalize Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis.

– The humiliation that Sunitha faced, the manner in which she was exhibited at every junction, the threat to her that her picture will be published in the newspapers–these were all police behaviour that contributed to her suicide. Such humiliation of a Dalit woman by the police needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

– Policemen should stop behaving like uniformed goondas, or as henchmen of the politicians. What was the need to hunt for Babu (Sunitha’s husband) in this manner? Was he a threat to national security? His crime had been to intervene in an altercation and during the course of events, slap Ramachandran, a businessman for insulting young boys of the Dalit community. Ramachandran’s relation and clout with the Revenue/Fisheries Minister Babu led to this entire manhunt being launched against the painter Babu.

– Cases must be filed against the Minister Babu, his relative Ramachandran and high-level police officials like the SI whose actions drove Sunitha to take her own life. These cases must be filed under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act.

ഞങ്ങളുടെ ഫേസ്ബുക് പേജ് ലൈക് ചെയ്യൂ..