A still from the CCTC footage showing a policeman slapping a pregnant woman in Kerala.
A police inspector in Kerala was suspended a year after he pushed and slapped a pregnant woman inside a police station in Kochi, an incident that highlights police brutality and violence against women.
Closer circuit television (CCTV) footage released online showed Inspector KG Prathap Chandra assaulting a pregnant woman inside the Ernakulam North police station on June 20, 2024. Visuals show Prathap pushing the victim, Shymol NJ, a Kochi resident, and slapping her with force across the face.
The incident occurred after her husband Benjo was detained by the police and taken into custody for allegedly disrupting police duty while filming a scuffle between police personnel and a group of intoxicated men. Shymol rushed to the station carrying her twin toddlers after learning of her husband’s detention, where she allegedly found the police assaulting her husband.
“They [police] accused me of creating tension inside the police station. I wasn’t carrying any weapons. I was holding my two children. He pushed me and asked me to stop the drama. I pleaded with the police after seeing my husband being assaulted. Other than touching the officer while trying to stop the assault, I did nothing wrong,” Shymol told the media on Thursday, December 18.
The Kerala police also filed a case against Shymol, accusing her of attacking the police station and endangering her children.
Chandran told the media that Shymol attacked a woman constable. “She was uncontrollable and a woman colleague, who had undergone a ureteral surgery, was pushed… I acted at the moment. The situation was going out of control. I am not anti-woman,” he said.
The couple submitted complaints to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Director General of Police Ravada A Chandrasekhar. No action was initially taken against Prathap, as a Special Branch report reportedly gave him a clean chit, Maktoom Media reported.
Later, Shymol filed a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident and dismissal of the Inspector’s service in a court in Kerala, which is scheduled to be heard next month, NDTV reported.
More allegations of assault against Inspector Chandran have come forward from other victims after the footage surfaced. One of them was Rinesh, a resident of Kakkanad, who alleged that Prathap assaulted him while he was resting under the Ernakulam North bridge.
Rinesh alleged that he was threatened with a retaliatory case if he pursued a complaint, adding that he later approached the Director General of Police, the Police Complaints Authority, and the State Human Rights Commission seeking action against the inspector.
Kerala Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan condemned the incident as “another shocking instance of police brutality in Kerala.” He questioned whether this reflected the government’s promise of women’s safety in the southern state.
(With inputs from Maktoom Media and NDTV)
This post was last modified on December 20, 2025 6:45 pm