An elderly woman from Mathicode falling under Karungal police jurisdiction collapsed and died on Tuesday after allegedly pushed by police personnel during an inquiry.
The deceased has been identified as Soosai Mariyal, 80. According to her daughter-in-law, D. Chandrakala, 47, four police personnel from Karungal police station, arrived at their residence early morning on Tuesday to arrest her son Sajith Jettley, 20, in a cyber crime case. She said that when the police attempted to take him to the station, Ms. Mariyal requested them to leave him.
During the incident, she was allegedly pushed by police, causing her to fall and collapse. In the commotion Sajith escaped and remained untraceable.
Chandrakala rushed Ms. Mariyal to Colachel government hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
He body was later sent to Government Medical College and Hospital in Asaripallam for postmortem. Her relatives have refused to accept the body, demanding action against police officials and a videography postmortem in the presence of Eraniel judicial magistrate.
Kanniyakumari district police had released a rebuttal statement on Tuesday. Kanniyakumari SP R. Stalin said that the cause of death can be confirmed only after the postmortem. He said that Chandrakala and her family were making accusations against the police in an attempt to divert attention and protect her son.