Savage Kerala continued

Last evening’s Malayalam news on TV chanels and today’s Malayalam papers prominently (front page four column) carried reports about the woman who was beaten up by a mob at Edapal on the 7^th of this month (see Savage Kerala).Her name is Malathi. She had disappeared from the hospital where she had been admitted after the assault.

On a tip off, the police picked her up yesterday along with a child near Kottakkal from the bus in which she was traveling to Calicut. Malathi was questioned and then taken to a hospital for a pregnancy test. A lady doctor had a scan and urine test done on her and pronounced that she was not pregnant. The doctor went on to explain that the bulging of the woman’s abdomen was because of a fatty tumor in her stomach. Now the world knows the medical condition of the woman who was savagely attacked. Malathi and the child were sent to a Rescue Home reportedly after informing the Women’s Commission.

I find all these shocking. There is no pending case or evidence against Malathi. She is the aggrieved person and a witness, not the accused. The police can pick up any person any where on pretexts that can range from terrorism to what not. But what was the need for the pregnancy tests? And under what provisions of law were the woman’s personal details made public? Obviously the police and the doctor did not follow the law and ethics.

Malathi, it is said, belongs to a poor nomadic group. However she claims that she was staying at a colony near the West Hill Railway Station in Calicut. All that is secondary. Her privacy is inviolable under law. Her personal details cannot be placed in the public domain by any one. Her rights, like that of any other citizen, have to be protected.

I hope that the Human Rights Commission or the High Court would also take cognizance of the matter.

Ends.
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