Couple attempt self-immlation alleging torture by cop

Coimbatore: A couple attempted to commit self-immolation at the collectorate here today alleging torture by a police inspector and a retired police official over a financial transaction with a private lender.

Claiming that no action had been taken so far on their complaints about the 'torture', Biju and his wife suddenly doused themselves in kerosene and attempted to light a match stick, police said.

However, police on duty at the collectorate overpowered and took them to a nearby police station, they said.

Earlier, Biju, running a workshop, said he could not return the loan taken from the lender for business expansion due to loss.

However, on a complaint by the lender, the police inspector, reportedly under the instructions of a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, started torturing them.

Biju claimed he suffered a leg fracture and alleged that an attempt was made to molest his wife.

The immolation bid, caught on camera, went viral in social media.

When contacted, a senior district official declined to comment, saying only after an inquiry he could react on the allegations.