Brutality knows no bounds; No colleagues intervened despite witnessing cruelty, senior advocate goes into hiding

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The images of an injured lawyer, roughed up by her senior in Vanchiyoor, left many wondering over a pertinent question. How can someone in this profession unleash such brutality on his female colleague?

The woman lawyer had questioned about the surprise decision to remove her from work. This single question unleashed the animal instincts of her senior as he went rogue to pounce on her. The senior used mop sticks to slap and gift her a swollen face. The woman ended up with a cut above her eyes and her jaw and cheeks severely damaged.

Parassala Kottavila native Shyamili (26), a lawyer at Vanchiyoor District Court in Thiruvananthapuram, was roughed up by her senior in front of the lawyers. Surprisingly no one came forward to stop the attack. Senior advocate Poonthura native Bailin Das is the accused. Shyamili, who sought treatment at the General Hospital, will reach the Medical College today for specialist treatment.

Bailin Das is at large and was suspended by the Bar Association.

The incident took place around noon on Tuesday at the office of lawyer Bailin Das in the Maharani Building on Triveni Hospital Road, Vanchiyoor. Despite witnessing the inhumane attack on a colleague, no juniors at the same office showed the nerve to intervene.

Learning about the news, Shyamili’s husband, Shine, an HDFC Bank employee, and her relatives along with Govt. Pleader advocate Geena Kumari, came to the spot and rushed the victim to the hospital. Shyamili confessed that Bailin Das had previously too misbehaved with her and often slapped her in public.

Shyamili returned to work three months ago after giving birth. Last Wednesday, Bailin fired Shyamili, who had been practising as a junior with him for three and a half years.

“After firing me, Bailin Das called me on the phone and apologised. He asked me to meet him on Monday. I appeared on Tuesday and asked him the reason that forced him to dismiss me. The next thing I saw was this man morphing into an animal and continuously slapping me.” Said Shyamili.

It is alleged that a group of lawyers led by Bar Association Secretary Vallakadavu Muralidharan blocked the police team that arrived to take Bailin into custody after learning about the incident. The lawyers demanded police show FIR before heading to arrest Bailin. This led to a war of words between police and the lawyers which gave ample time for Bailin to escape.