CPI leader Annie Raja has unleashed a scathing attack against the Kerala police. In a politically significant move, the senior CPI leader openly criticised the Left government and urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to pay special attention to women’s safety as Kerala is witnessing more incidents of atrocities against women.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Wednesday, Annie Raja said, “Many recent incidents of police intervention in the state show that the police have been taking deliberate steps against the government’s declared stand”. Annie Raja said the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act has not been implemented effectively in the state. She said the time has come for a separate department to be set up exclusively for Women and children. The senior leader, who is also the general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), said she would soon write to the LDF leadership and Chief Minister Pinarayi VIjayan raising this demand. “While the state government is taking precautionary measures to prevent violence against women and children, a section of the Kerala Police acted in a manner that tarnished the image of that government,” she said. Raja was expressing concern after several young women were subjected to cruelty in the name of dowry, while some of them committed suicide. Annie Raja also claimed that the police had started working with an agenda to destroy the image of the LDF government.
