Dalit man inflicted with ‘third degree‘ torture in Vizag police station for alleged rooster theft

Two constables of Padmanabham Police Station under the Visakhapatnam Commissionerate of Police have been detained for allegedly inflicting ‘third degree’ torture on a ‘Dalit’ man, resulting in fracture of his right leg.

Two constables of Padmanabham Police Station under the Visakhapatnam Commissionerate of Police have been detained for allegedly inflicting ‘third degree’ torture on a ‘Dalit’ man, resulting in fracture of his right leg. The torture was so severe that the femur bone was broken into two parts and he had to be rushed to the hospital. The injured person was an ‘accused’ in an unregistered petty complaint of stealing a rooster.

The injured person has been identified as Bandevarapu Papu (24) of Bandevarapu village, Padmanabham mandal, Visakhapatnam district. The constables have been identified as K. Srinivasa Rao and K. Satish of the Crime branch of the police station.

On a complaint from the injured person, the Padmanabham police have registered several cases, including a few under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered at 4 a.m. on October 2, the complainant Papu admitted that he along with his accomplice Gali Yernibabu had committed the theft of a rooster belonging to one Indukuri Rajababu of the same village in the last week of September. On September 29, the matter was settled in front of the village elders, but Rajababu filed a complaint with the Padmanabham police on the same day (September 29). For that, Papu and his accomplice Yernibabu were informed to come to the police station. The accused requested the police that they would settle the matter soon as it is a petty incident.

Later on October 1, at 10 p.m., the accused along with another person Potnuru Ganesh came to the station.

During their interaction, the two constables, Srinivasa Rao and Satish, kept Papu and Yernibabu in a hall located in the backside of the police station. The constables allegedly used filthy language and made casteist remarks and they also beat them up. As per the injured Papu they also demanded a bribe of ₹5,000 to settle the matter without a police case. Both Papu and Yernibabu had told them (constables) that they did not have the money to pay them.

“Meanwhile, one of the policemen, Srinivasa Rao, allegedly kicked Papu on his right leg, due to which he suffered a fracture,” the FIR stated.