Kerala High Court notice to DGP on plea by 8-year-old falsely accused of stealing mobile phone

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a plea filed by an 8-year-old Dalit girl who approached the Court after she was allegedly publicly humiliated by a police officer who falsely accused her of stealing a mobile. .Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order, which noted that the incident has scarred the minor petitioner. While the Court said it cannot yet make observations regarding the veracity of the claims made in the petition, it does require the personal attention of the State Police Chief, Director General of Police Anil Kant. "The incident has left an indelible psychiatric imprint on her mind and that she is now scared of every Khaki Uniform.It is too early a stage for this Court to conclude whether the allegations made in this writ petition are right or wrong. But certainly, these are ones which should engage the attention of the second respondent state police chief personally with all the seriousness that it deserves," the Court said.It went to the extent of remarking that the allegations the petition are such that any right thinking person would be infuriated, if true."The allegations in this writ petition - without meaning to say that it is correct or otherwise at this stage – would certainly bring angst to any right thinking person."The Court therefore, issued notice against the police officer in question through the DGP KantKant was directed to file an affidavit before the Court explaining and detailing the action taken against the police officer..The girl moved the Court seeking directions to the State to take stringent action against the police officer who had allegedly humiliated her. The Civil Police Officer was identified as Rejitha.The incident occurred when the girl and her father were watching the movement of a huge cargo truck on road that was carrying equipment to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. This had attracted a huge crowd which led to the deployment of police officers, including a Pink-Patrol squad for crowd control.During the course of the day, the accused lady police officer allegedly ran towards the father-daughter duo and accused the girl of stealing her mobile phone which drew a crowd around them as well. According to the petitioners, the police officer used derogatory language and intimidated and threatened them, following which the girl was left traumatised, and required counselling.The mobile phone was later found in the vehicle of the officer but the entire event was filmed by an onlooker and went viral on social media. The father of the girl had approached the State Police Chief seeking action against the police officer but to no avail. They then moved the Kerala High Court through advocate Preetha AK..The matter will be taken up again on November 29. [Read Order]