Circle Inspector slaps pregnant woman, pushes her in chest; shocking visuals emerge from Ernakulam station

KOCHI: Footage of a Circle Inspector (CI) beating a pregnant woman who arrived at the police station in Ernakulam surfaced on Thursday. The incident in the footage took place at the Ernakulam North Police Station in 2024. The complainant got access to the footage on the instructions of the High Court.

The incident related to the case happened on June 20, 2024. The victim’s husband had recorded the footage of the police beating two people in a public place on his mobile phone. The police officials who were in mufti snatched away the phone and took him into custody.

The incident forced the woman to reach the police station and question the unlawful arrest of her husband. CI Prathapachandran, who was at the station, gave a hard slap to the woman’s face instead of resolving the issue. The footage shows him grabbing the young woman's chest, pushing and slapping her.

The woman and her family filed a complaint over the assault, but the police denied any wrongdoing. The police explained that the woman dragged her children to the station with the intention of causing a ruckus. The officers also alleged that the complainant heckled other police officers. The woman and her husband requested that the CCTV footage be released, but no action was taken, so they approached the court directly.

The complainant says that the footage was obtained after a year-long legal battle. The woman alleged that the police officials physically assaulted her inside the station while she was pregnant.