Former Director Normal of Police R. Sreelekha, the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) candidate for Sasthamangalam ward in Thiruvananthapuram, engaged Communist Celebration of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary, V. Pleasure, MLA, in a seemingly light-hearted political tit-for-tat. 

Mr. Pleasure had just lately taken a dig at Ms. Sreelekha’s candidacy, musing brazenly on the usefulness of a “former top-ranking officer who spent most of her official life shielded by law enforcement officials” obligated to reply to ward-level civic exigencies, comparable to “disposing of a lifeless stray”. 

The CPI(M) legislator from Varkala steered that prime officers who spent the higher a part of their working lives within the ivory tower of forms had been ill-suited to know and reply to the travails and tribulations of abnormal individuals. 

Ms. Sreelekha attributed Mr. Pleasure’s comment to “worry of failure on the hustings”.

She disputed the CPI(M)’s insinuation that she was far faraway from the problems plaguing abnormal households.

“I headed the Hearth and Rescue division in the course of the COVID-19 outbreak. I joined volunteers and officers in cleansing neighbourhoods and supporting civic society. As Director of Prisons, I modified the gloomy environment of penitentiaries to that of reform-oriented correctional houses,” she mentioned.

Kuthiyottam controversy

When requested whether or not she nonetheless caught to her controversial place that the “Kuthiyottam” ritual at Attukal Devi Temple was a toddler rights violation, Ms. Sreelekha appeared to dig her heels in on the difficulty.  

“I don’t search to problem the temple’s custom. That mentioned, the Kuthiyottam includes piercing the pores and skin of kids with sharp, miniature hooks. It’s an objectionable follow that has drawn censure from the Excessive Courtroom, which discovered it violated the rights of kids and the Juvenile Justice Act. Kodungalloor temple altered course and made the piercing act symbolic”, she mentioned.