PwD activists in Tamil Nadu allege maltreatment by police
Tamil Nadu representatives of the Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) have said that when they attempted to meet with officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) in a private hotel in Meenambakkam, they were abused by the police.
Professor Raghuraman, an activist, said the police had ejected them from the hotel by force. Wheelchair-bound disability rights campaigner Smitha Sadasivan was forced to be pulled out of her wheelchair and taken to the police station. The cops treated us like criminals even after we presented our identification, the man said.
Smitha said that once the police took her phone, they would not let her talk to the ECI representatives who were online. She claimed, “The police officials did not even listen to us.” They forced us to go to the police station against our will after lifting me (from my wheelchair) and loading me into a police vehicle, the woman said.
Prior to meeting with the ECI officials, Smitha and Raghuraman from DRA had requested permission to see them as part of their formal state visit. Both of them claimed to have previously collaborated with the ECI to make the election process PwD-friendly while serving as members of the state advisory council on disability. The delegates showed up early at the location to deliver a message to the ECI officials requesting that polling places be made accessible for the Lok Sabha elections.
According to sources, the alliance members met with ECI officials in the afternoon and, upon their involvement, turned in their memorandum. According to DRA activist Vaishnavi Jayakumar, mistreating a person with a disability is a breach of human rights. “We intend to lodge a grievance with both the state human rights commission and higher authorities.” The hotel has been requested to disclose CCTV video, but they have refused.
Police sources, however, said that a misunderstanding led to the encounter. The misunderstanding was all the result of a miscommunication. Since individuals with disabilities have been staging protests in Chennai for the past several days, the hotel has increased security. We’ve apologized to them,” a senior police officer said.
