PALAKKAD: When the 50-year-old woman, who was absconding on bail, could not be found, Palakkad South Police arrested an 84-year-old woman named Bhartiamma of Vadakkethara Madathil Veedu, Kunissery instead. Bharathiamma went to court for four years to convince that she was not the accused. This elderly woman was caught in a case of trespassing in a house in Kallikkad 25 years ago. The court came to know about the change of accused during the witness examination.

In 1998, a young woman named Bharti was working at the house of Rajagopal, a native of Kallikkad. Bharti had quarreled with the family members, threw flowerpots and used obscene language. Based on the complaint filed by the house owner, South Police registered a case and arrested Bharti. She got out on bail and went absconding. After a quarter of a century, the police arrested 'Bharathiamma' instead of Vadakkethara Madathil Veedu 'Bharati' as part of solving old cases. This was in 2019. The police did not listen to what Bharathiamma said. Palakkad South Police's evidence was the similarity of name and address only! Despite the fact that this may have been a confusion, the police did not even want to conduct a small investigation. Police still have no information about the suspect either.

Twist of the story

Bharathiamma's husband was an engineer in Tamil Nadu. He is not alive. They have no children and she is living alone. The original defendant Bharti is a distant relative of Bhartiamma. Bharti had a property dispute with Bhartiamma's family in 1994. The police say that Bhartiamma may have been trapped by giving a wrong address to avenge this dispute.

Bhartiamma is one who found the evidence as well

Realizing that the police would put her in jail, Bhartiamma found the complainants in the case and brought them to court. The complainants told the court that 84-year-old Bhartiamma was not the one who came to work at home and that they were not interested in proceeding with the case. Bharti, who had come to work, would be around 50 years old at present. Rajagopal had filed a complaint alleging that she had trespassed in his father's house. Rajagopal informed the court that the complaint was filed on the insistence of his father and that he is not alive now. That's how Bharatiyamma was saved.

"I said that I had never done domestic work anywhere and I had been in Tamil Nadu for a long time, but the police did not listen. My address may have been given by the accused Bharti due to personal enmity. The police did not investigate anything. It took a long time to clear the case.

- Bharatiamma

"There has been a huge violation of human rights. Bhartiamma was arrested without proper investigation. The case was dropped because the complainants came to the court and stated that she was not the accused.

-K Girish Nochulli, Advocate