Two instances of police brutality in the same month, and both in South Goa, raise several questions on the performance and abilities of the police force in the State. In both cases the alleged provocation was a verbal aside that a disciplined police force should have been trained to ignore rather than act brutally against the person as has been alleged. Yet, what happened is the exact opposite of this, and shows the police force in a very poor light.
In the latest instance, Clint Rebello, a young seafarer from Betul has alleged that he was assaulted by five policemen from Cuncolim Police Station. Rebello, who was admitted to Margao’s Hospicio Hospital, alleged that he was stopped by a policeman while driving his car and when he asked the policeman why he had been stopped he was told to go, to which Rebello admits having said “mad fellow”, for which he was slapped by the policeman. His tale continues to state that other policemen arrived on the scene, he was taken to a police outpost and assaulted there. While no complaint has been registered, and Cuncolim police refused to give their version of the incident, a departmental enquiry has been ordered.
Earlier in the month, the men-in-khaki had been in the news for allegedly assaulting football fan Lester D’Souza at the Fatorda stadium, an act that was caught on camera and whose video then went viral. D’Souza has alleged that while being beaten by the cops who were in plainclothes they said, ‘Ros kadya tezo’ (let’s squeeze the juice out of him), and also assaulted the parents of the boy. The young man was taken to the police station and kept behind the station at night. In the D’Souza case too, a departmental enquiry has been ordered, but more importantly, the Human Rights Commission has taken up both the cases, based on the Herald reports.
A departmental enquiry or even taking action against the men in uniform who have blighted the reputation of the police force will serve as a punishment for those who have erred. But, considering that there have been two very similar incidents in the space of a couple of weeks, the police brass has to now take further steps and ensure that incidents of this nature are not repeated. This perhaps calls for sending the members of the police force back to the training institutions and giving them some lessons on anger management. Luckily, the police chief has already considered this.
While a refresher course may be just what the police force in Goa needs, the uniformed force appears to have got accustomed to rather comfortable postings, where everything is provided to them. Less than a week ago SP Chandan Chowdhary, in reference to criticism that the meals being distributed to the police on duty at the film festival were a snack rather than a full meal had said, “We are taking a lot of effort to ensure that clean and hygienic food is provided to the staff on duty. In fact credit should be given to Goa Police for ensuring this aspect considering the fact that the nature of police force is to perform duties in harsh conditions. We are trained for it. Imagine the plight of a police personnel roughing it out in the jungles of naxal affected areas or border areas where they survive on meagre supplies.”
It is indeed difficult to imagine the Goa Police force roughing it up in the naxal areas. There are no harsh conditions in Goa for the police, so their reaction to the slightest provocation is appalling. It raises the question: are we descending into a State where brutality takes precedence in police work?
