Bruised and battered, this 'handicapped' man battles for justice in Belthangady

The accident left him with few options for livelihood, but the resilience of the man saw him battle the odds and eke out a living by working as conductor in oil carrying tankers of a distributer in Mangalore. But, even as he was toiling hard in the hope of ensuring a better tomorrow, another tragedy has befallen Soofi leaving him in the lurch once again.

Ironically, the society which should have been sympathetic towards the man with partial disability struggling to stand on his own has been apathetic to his plight. The illiterate youngster was brutally assaulted by a powerful local thug last Friday without any provocation and got bruises and wounds on the already incapacitated limbs. He received injuries on the head, his unresponsive finger on the left hand was bruised and the portion on the forehand which had been transplanted during plastic surgery came off. He was left in the hospital bed for eight days and hardly anyone from the local community came to his help. The fighter in the young man prodded him to approach the police for justice. After dragging their feet for few days, the police registered a case under non-cognizable sections, which is generally meant for white-collar crimes.

Background

Last Friday Soofi had accompanied a few volunteers of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind for lunch at Rahiman Hotel in Kakkinje. The Jamaat delegation was apparently on a mission to find out destitute families in the rural areas of Belthangady and stumbled upon Soofi, through one of his relative. In fact, Soofi had been one of the beneficiaries of Jamaat's charity activities. They had helped him foot a bill amounting to over Rs. 25,000 a couple of years ago at Yenepoya Hospital in Deralakatte. Following the plastic surgery on his left arm, he was able to carry out his daily life and was in fact earning his livelihood working as a conductor cum driver on oil tankers. “I have been regularly going on trips to distant places as Bellary and Chikmagalur. The earnings used to keep our family afloat,” says Soofi, who has three young children and a wife to look after.

Overcome by a sense of gratitude, Soofi had also gone to a meeting of the Jamaat in Aladangadi, where he saw a brochure brought out by the organisation. The brochure had his picture (of him receiving the relief money given at the hospital) and he was so excited that he carried one with him on returning to Kakkinje. He went to Rahman Hotel in the evening for tea and when the owner Salim asked him about the guests who visited for lunch, he happily showed the brochure and said that the people are involved in charity work. He also pointed to his picture printed on the brochure.

Raheem, who runs a small canteen near petrol pump, overheard the conversation and intervened saying “these organisations are doing all this for money.” This angered Soofi, who replied to him saying he was helped by the members of this organisation, when none from the local community had come forward to his help after he suffered electric shock. The reply apparently upset Raheem, who dealt severe blow on his face and banged his head against the wall besides kicking him to the ground. The members of the public watched silently the entire episode and left the hapless victim to take the fight for justice on his own. He went straight to the Government Hospital in Belthangady and complained that he had been assaulted by a man. The doctors subsequently informed the police about the incident. The police came and took a statement from Soofi.

But no progress was made for the next three days, neither an FIR was registered until Wednesday. When the issue was brought to the notice of the jurisdictional sub-inspector Yogish, he apparently took the subordinates into task. “He came here on Wednesday and blasted the ASI and other police personnel for not taking any action on my complaint. He also slammed them for not showing any humanitarian considerations for the handicapped man,” says Soofi.

When asked about the delay in filing the FIR Mr. Yogish said that it was a non-cognizable offence and the sanction of the court was required to file an FIR and take action against the suspected attacker.

“We have now booked a NC case. The delay was due to the non-availability of the local judge. We had to get the sanction from the court in Moodbidri. We have acted upon the complaint and the accused has already been arrested,” he told Coastaldigest.com.

When asked about minor clauses of IPC being slapped against the accused, he said, the injuries were not very serious. “He was a semi-handicapped man. He might have fallen to the ground just after a push. The injury on his head could have been caused by a nail,” he says.

When asked for his reaction on the episode, Labhu Ram, the Superintendent of Police, said, he would look into the matter thoroughly. “I will find out why a NC case has been registered. I will also find out if there has been any delay in the inquiry,” he said. “If the matter is really serious, the concerned person can directly contact me and I will definitely hear him out,” Mr Ram said.

Whether or not the police department considers it a cognizable offence, the victim, Soofi, definitely has been rendered jobless, as he cannot take up any tough job for the next couple of months. “The irony of the whole issue is a man who has constantly been striving to lead a life with self-respect and dignity without taking recourse to begging, has got a raw deal from the so called civilized society,” says Amin Ahsan, the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hindi, Dakshina Kannada Unit.

But, undeterred by the new challenge, Soofi is now dreaming of securing a four-wheeler license and becoming a full-time driver. “I will use the two-month recovery period to find out if I can get a driving license. Being an illiterate, I am not sure, if I am eligible to get one. I am very confident of passing the test. But I cannot do anything if the law is stacked against an underprivileged, impoverished, handicapped and illiterate person like me,” he concludes.