Pregnant woman's car stopped, vandalised by UDF hartal supporters in Kerala

The entire incident was captured on the car’s dashcam.

news Controversy

A group of angry men carrying party flags stand in front of a car, hitting the bonnet and yelling at the passengers for being on the road. This was the mob that Syamjith Syamalan was confronted by on Sunday when he was taking his nine-month pregnant wife to the hospital in Kollam. His car was stopped by UDF workers near Pallimukku in Kollam at 5.30pm on Sunday for being on the road despite the hartal announcement.

Following the incident, Syamalan put up two videos captured by the dashcam installed in the car and provided an explanation of the harrowing experience he, his pregnant wife and other passengers were put through by angry UDF protesters.

In his post, he writes that he was on his way to the hospital with his nine-month pregnant wife when his car was blocked by Congress party workers for travelling on the eve of the hartal. Despite Syamalan repeatedly telling the protestors that it’s an emergency, he says his car was attacked and vandalized by the party workers.

“I was taking my wife to a nearby hospital after she complained of an unexpected pain. When we reached near Pallimukku near Kollam around 5.30pm, Congress party workers were blocking all the vehicles owing to the hartal announcement. They have completely vandalized my car. My dashcam luckily captured all the visuals,” said Syamalan.

One video shows Syamalan’s car following the DGP’s car. But while workers allow the police vehicle to pass, they waylay his car, banging on his bonnet and threaten and intimidate him, his wife and other passengers. The second video shows the protesters continuing to abuse the car’s passengers.

In his post, Syamalan says that he was advised by some policemen to follow a DGP’s car to get to the hospital. “Few policemen asked us to follow a DGP’s car to avoid the protestors. They let the police car pass but stopped ours. Despite repeated requests and telling them it’s an emergency they continued to attack us and vandalized my car. We had four women in the car but that didn’t stop them.”

Accusing the UDF workers of acting under the influence of alcohol in his post, Syamalan wrote, “The workers had created a chaotic situation on the National Highway blocking vehicles. They were all under the influence of alcohol.”

Syamalan says that he eventually couldn’t go to the hospital and instead went to the police station to file a complaint against the protesters.

“I couldn’t take my wife to the hospital. We went to the police station and filed a complaint against the protestors. Today is the hartal so we have to wait till six in the evening to visit the doctor,” he said.

Syamalan’s wife Deepa Syam also took to Facebook to write about their harrowing experience. Expressing her concern over the security of women in India, she wrote, "This happened to our car while I was traveling in it. Despite pleading them numerous times that we are heading to the hospital these drunk protesters were least bothered and kept thrashing and kicking our car. With such incidents still persisting it would be difficult for India to make any progress in any front, where women have least safety and security."

UDF had declared a state-wide hartal in Kerala on Monday to protest against the rising fuel prices and the ‘anti-people policies’ of the state and central government.