A Poll Twist in an Outrageous Tale

A traffic warden in Kerala who was assaulted and sacked gets her job back thanks to elections

In God’s own country, justice can take strange twists—a traffic warden who was beaten up by a vehicle owner and then got thrown out of her job, has found an odd saviour in the elections.

Recruited by a private agency, D Padmini had been a traffic warden for seven years in Kochi. On the morning of 2 November last year, she was directing traffic at a busy junction when a scooter hit a car. “The car reversed and stopped next to me. The driver got out, caught hold of my shirt and hit me on my chest. He shouted that his car was hit because of my lack of attention. Two buttons of my shirt were ripped out. I noted his vehicle number and informed the control room.”

Two policemen arrived. Padmini was told to lodge a complaint at the traffic police station under which she served. On the way, she was first directed to the traffic station closest to the incident, then redirected to a police station in Ernakulam north. Though the police registered the case, they held that there had only been a minor ruckus.

Padmini filed a fresh complaint against the policemen involved in the investigation, alleging that they were favouring the accused. It turned into a big media issue. Police sources allege that she had been talking on her phone when the car was hit by the scooter and that was the reason for the quarrel. “We are not sure whether any physical assault happened, there were hardly any witnesses,” says Sabu MG, the circle inspector in charge of the investigation. The case was then handed over to another police officer whose investigation has not yet come to any conclusion.

Meanwhile Padmini was asked to leave her job by the private agency recruiting traffic wardens. She staged a protest in front of the police commissioner’s office. Wanting to avoid adverse publicity, Kerala’s Home Minister told the police to instruct the agency to reinduct Padmini. She is now a traffic warden in the same station.

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Shahina KK