Why Growing Up in Kerala Set Very Different Expectations of the Police

I moved to Bangalore for my studies after being born and partially raised in Kerala. Looking back, the biggest mistake I made was choosing Bangalore instead of going back home to Dubai, where I have residency.

Recently I had a confrontation with a landlord that escalated far beyond a normal disagreement. During the argument, his brother snatched my phone from my hand while I was recording. The landlord even shouted at my boyfriend to “slap her and take her away.”

Instead of de-escalating the situation, several neighbours gathered and joined in. One elderly man who had walked in from the street threatened to slap me with his chappal, and another neighbour’s son hurled abuses at me and tried to advance toward me as if he was going to hit me. As a woman, standing there while multiple men surrounded and threatened me was extremely intimidating.

When the police arrived, they began speaking in Kannada with the men. When I asked them to please speak in a language everyone could understand or translate what was being said, the officer replied, “This is Karnataka, you speak to us in Kannada.”

In Kerala or the UAE, a situation like this would have been resolved within minutes. If you raise your hand at a woman, you are immediately taken away by the police. The victim does not need to spend hours at a station asking to be heard.

In the UAE you would simply go to jail. They do not listen to explanations; they only need to know whether a woman’s safety was in danger. In many ways, Kerala operates with a similar seriousness.

I grew up in a politically involved family and have interacted with the police many times because of that. Unfortunately, I expected the same professionalism and accountability here.