Constable’s death in Erode: National Commission for SCs seeks report from DGP, SP

The constable had been suspended after a video of him purportedly assaulting a lorry driver went viral on social media

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has asked the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) and Superintendent of Police, Erode, to submit an action-taken report with regard to the death by suicide of a constable attached to the Ammapettai police station in the district.

The report must be submitted in 15 days, the commission said.

On October 2, 2024, a group of lorry drivers had questioned constable P. Selvakumar, 34, who, while on duty at the Chinnapallam police check-post, had reportedly assaulted one of the drivers and demanded money from him.

A video of the incident went viral on social media and the constable, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, was subsequently placed under suspension. Allegedly depressed by this, he died by suicide at his house.

His family staged a protest demanding action against the persons who “threatened” him at the check-post and uploaded the video of the incident on social media.

A case was registered and a postmortem examination was conducted.

Vadivel Raman, president of Samuga Neethi Makkal Katchi, took up the issue with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Chennai.

In a communication dated October 28, 2024, to the DGP and SP, the commission’s director S. Ravivarman said it had received a complaint and asked them to submit an ‘action taken’ report within 15 days.

The Commission wanted to know the date of the incident, the names and addresses of the accused persons, the details of the First Information Report (FIR), and the compensation given to the constable’s family, among others.

The communication also said that if the commission did not receive a response from them, it could issue a summons to them for an appearance.

Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s Health Helpline 104 and Sneha’s Suicide Prevention Helpline 044-24640050.

Published - October 29, 2024 02:39 pm IST