Govindachamy's jail escape batters Kerala Police's reputation

Something is terribly wrong with Kerala Police. There’s no other way to spin it.

Letting a notorious prisoner such as Govindachamy – serving life imprisonment for the rape and murder of Soumya while on a train ride in 2011 – escape from prison can only be put down to sheer incompetence on the part of the Kerala Police and the jail system that it runs.

What’s worse is that Govindachamy managed to get out of what’s supposed to be a maximum security Kannur prison. Sure, the alert has been sounded and all of the resources available to the state’s police will be put into action to nab the offender.

Thankfully, Govindachamy's time out in the open didn't last long.

But to think that such a violent criminal was out and about somewhere in Kerala and no longer bound by the walls of the jail or the cell he’s been in all these years is beyond belief.

In fact, such was the nature of Govindachamy’s brutality that ended Soumya’s life that a lower court in Kerala had given him a death sentence. This was later commuted to life imprisonment after the Supreme Court passed its own ruling.  

Sure, Govindachamy's back where he belongs in Kannur prison, but the Kerala Police needs to do a lot of things better.

Kerala’s jails are notorious for the favourable treatment handed out to convicts with political connections. Need to use a mobile phone while serving a prison term? The connected ones can get one in no time.

Have some free time by way of a parole? Not an issue. And if someone wants the parole to be extended, that too can be arranged. The convicts don’t even need to bother showing up.

None of which helps the image of Kerala Police and all those who wear the khaki uniform. Some politicians and commentators even deride the Kerala Police as nothing more than glorified escort service providers. Or for sentry duties for politicians and bureaucrats.

Recent weeks have shown again and again that they just can’t anything done right in their primary roles – of protecting society. There was the recent students’ protests in the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram that soon got bogged down in skirmishes – and for which the police personnel who were there seemed to have no idea to cool things down.

There was even the sorry sight of a policeman’s lathi being seized by a student and who then metes out a few lashes. Painful, but also showcasing how the Kerala Police is slipping up when it comes to doing its job.

These are not isolated instances.

It makes for a busy first month on the job for Ravada Chandrasekhar in his role as Kerala's new Director-General of Police. He's supposed to be someone with the skills to turnaround the force's sullied reputation and get back to actual policing work. Turns out Chandrasekhar better get things done fast - if the political forces allow him.

For the moment, Kerala Police got one part right - get back Govindachamy to where he should be. In jail. And hopefully, this time for good.