Thiruvananthapuram: A former civil police officer and his accomplice were arrested by the Vattiyoorkavu police on Saturday for severely assaulting a hotel owner and his wife in Nettayam after a dispute over an unpaid bill.
Those arrested were identified as Binu, 50, a former civil police officer, and Satheesh, 51, both residents of Nettayam.
The incident occurred around 2 pm when the two accused visited a hotel run by the Kottayam family in Nettayam. After finishing their meal, the defendants claimed that they did not have money to pay the bill, leading to a heated argument. The situation escalated when the accused started abusing the hotel owner, Saji Joseph, 50, and his wife, Nisha, 45.
During the altercation, Binu slapped Saji and when his wife tried to intervene, she was also slapped. The situation took a violent turn when the accused used a stick to hit the couple. Locals quickly intervened and arrested the accused, while others alerted the police.
Saji and Nisha suffered serious injuries in the attack and were hospitalized. Police arrived at the scene, arrested the two accused and took them into custody.
Both Binu and Satheesh were produced in court, where they were remanded in custody on charges including criminal assault, use of force to outrage a woman’s modesty, attempted murder, causing bodily harm with a weapon and assault.