Mother alleges policeman harassment for son’s suicide

Chennai: A 24-year-old bike mechanic committed suicide at his residence in Purasawalkam on Friday night after alleged harassment by cops attached to the Kilpauk police station.
The deceased, identified as Sudarshan alias Raju (24) of Purasawalkam, was found hanging at his residence by his mother Govindammal. The woman approached the city police commisioner’s office on Saturday afternoon with a petition seeking action against sub-inspector Ezhilarasan attached to the Kilpauk police station even as her son’s body was at the Kilpauk medical college (KMC) hospital for post-mortem.

The woman alleged that the sub-inspector had been extorting money from the youth who was running the two-wheeler repair shop from a pavement. “Raju took over the business from his father who died of illness three years ago,” John, a relative, said. According to John, the SI started harassing Raju after the deceased kept him waiting when asked to repair his bike. Raju suggested that the cop wait for sometime as he had other customers to attend to. He is said to have chided the cop when he sought a bribe to run the shop on the pavement, John added.

Following this, SI Ezhilarasan took the youth into custody on December 25, 2014, and let him off after Govindammal paid Rs 2,000. He was again taken to the police station on Friday evening claiming that a bike at the police station had to be fixed. Raju returned home around 8 pm and expressed his frustration to his mother. Govindammal went out that night to a relative’s house and returned to find the boy hanging. When asked, a senior police officer said the allegations are false and the deceased had a drinking problem and that was the reason for his suicide.