Khaki ego and arrogance led to this: Kerala High Court on policewoman falsely accusing 8-year-old of stealing mobile phone

The Kerala High Court on Monday pulled up police officers for their cold approach and attitude towards citizens while hearing a plea filed by an 8-year-old Dalit girl who had approached the Court after she was publicly humiliated by a police officer who falsely accused the minor girl of stealing a mobile phone..Justice Devan Ramachandran viewed a video of the entire incident during the hearing today following which, he expressed how heart breaking and disturbing the whole case was. "The visuals are very disturbing. If you are a right thinking person, especially if you are a father, it will be very difficult to see this. It has moved me a lot," he orally observed..From the video, he noted that the first 2 minutes and 34 seconds consisted of the young girl crying as a female police officer was seen blocking the girl and her father from leaving the spot. Later a crowd formed around them and people were seen intervening. However, the police officer was seen holding her ground even after the phone was recovered from her own vehicle..Such incidents, which stems from the ego and arrogance of individual officers, puts the reputation of the entire police force at stake, the Court said."The police force is excellent, but cases like this of one or two police officers is enough to tarnish it. I am not saying this lady is (one of them) but the situation went out of her control and after that, it was her ego that was the problem. She could have simply told that girl, I'm sorry child. People would have stood with you (the police). It is the ego and arrogance that is the problem, the khaki ego and arrogance led to this" Justice Ramachandran orally remarked..He further opined that the whole thing could have been resolved peacefully if the officer had backed off when the child started crying and consoled her or maybe even bought her a chocolate. The Court also drew the attention to the fact that the child and her father belong to a very vulnerable section of the society."What kind of pink police is this. When the girl was crying, why did none of them, the other pink police there, go to her and console her? Why are they there? Whatever you thought the father did, why did your heart not melt when that child started crying. Even hijackers let children go first," the judge remarked..Considering the impact the incident would have had on the child's mental health, the Court directed the Director General of Police, who is also the State Police Chief, to devote his attention to the issue and file a report before the Court..The minor girl had moved the Court seeking directions to the State to take stringent action against the police officer, later identified as one Rejitha, who had allegedly humiliated and traumatised her.The incident occurred when the girl and her father were part of a crowd of people watching equipment being transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Several police officers were deployed for crowd control, including a Pink-Patrol squad.As the crowd stood watching, 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..While the police officer in question has been transferred, the Court directed Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan to place on record the details of the transfer and the reasons which led to the same..The matter will be taken up next on December 7..[Read Order]