SANGEETHA @ CLARA Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, KOCHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition brings to our notice the extremely sad plight of a lady who has been forced to approach this Court for obtaining police protection against her own husband, the 5th respondent. There are various allegations made in this writ petition against the 5th respondent, ranging from matrimonial torture to even an alleged attempt by him to sexually assault one of their daughters.

(2.) The contents of the allegations in the writ petition, as also in the petition filed before the police, are shocking to say the least. The petitioner asserts that her husband, the 5th respondent herein, is an alcoholic and a habitual drug user and that she apprehends that he will attack her and the children, reducing her thus in a state of constant fear for herself and the lives of her young children. She adds that because of such persistent threat that she and her children face from the 5th respondent, they have now temporarily shifted their residence to her parental home at Alappuzha, which is within the jurisdictional limits of the 2nd and 4th respondents, Police Officers. She, therefore, prays in this Writ Petition that adequate and effective protection be given to her and her children, by name Grace Tania Sunil and Ann Mary Sunil, studying in the 6th and 4th standards respectively from their father, the 5th respondent.

(3.) The learned senior Government Pleader on instructions from respondents 1 to 3, submits that in spite of their best efforts, they have not been able to contact the 5th respondent yet. According to the learned Government Pleader, even though the 5th respondent is stated to be staying in the address shown in the writ petition and though he had accepted notice from this Court in the said address, whenever the police tried to contact him, to obtain his version regarding the contents of this writ petition and the complaint before them, they were not able to locate him. The learned Government Pleader, however, submits that they are willing to afford necessary police protection to the petitioner and her two children from the 5th respondent in every manner possible and to ensure they are kept away from harm at the instance of the 5th respondent or anybody else acting under him.