Chennai: In a case of the fence eating the crop, a drunk cop who stalked an 18-year-old girl student from Azhar Khana bus stop, molested her in full public view. The incident took place on Friday evening on the service road under the Kathipara flyover. The cop was identified as Jerald Gibbs (30), official driver of the law & order wing Inspector. He was being interrogated late into Friday evening.
Cabbies who were resting in their cars in the underbelly of the flyover came to the girl's rescue and pinned the cop down. If they had not intervened, the molester could have done worse things to the girl. When a patrol cop S. Angamuthu, attached to the Mount police station, arrived at the scene and learnt that the perpetrator was a cop he suggested that the latter escape from the scene.
Unrelenting cabbies nabbed the perpetrator a second time after giving a short chase and tried to thrash him. Angamuthu intervened again and abused the cabbies for preventing the escape besides hitting a few of them. Enraged by the attitude of the cop, the cabbies protested. A patrol vehicle arrived on the scene and whisked Jerald Gibbs away from the spot to save him from the 'mob justice' the cabbies were waiting to give him.
Angamuthu also warned the cabbies that he wouldn't be allowed to park their vehicles in the flyover's underbelly. He also threatened to set the cars on fire if they did not let the incident pass.
The cabbies, all members of Nanbargal Magizhunthu Othunargal Sangam, resorted to a road roko and an ACP level officer brokered peace among the protesting drivers. "We demand an unconditional apology from the cop who abused us and hit our office bearer, Tamilarasu," said Balachandar, who was among the core team that nabbed the culprit.
"Had we not interfered, he would have simply gone scot-free. I saw the girl screaming and running away from him. He kept charging at her. An auto driver tried to block him which is when we realised what was going on and jumped in to save the girl," he added.
The drivers were later called for a round of talks to the Mount police station where a few cops were said to have donned the role of preachers, blaming the cabbies for ruining the girl's life by raking up the issue instead of hushing it up.
Pressure exerted on the girl's family by the cops not to pursue the incident may have worked too as the girl, studying first year B.Com in a city college, refused to file a complaint. In the meantime, Jerald Gibbs was taken to Chromepet GH for a medical examination.
