Two years ago in June 2020, the entire nation was shaken by the horrific case of police brutality that happened in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district where two men named Jayaraj and Bennix were thrashed to death.
The News Minute, Puthiya Thalaimurai and other Dravidian Stockist media covered exclusive stories on the incident.
A video of Tamil Radio Jockey Suchitra Karthik, explaining in graphic detail the torture endured by the two, went viral.
‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth relased a picture of his ‘angry face’ expressing shock over the incident and calling for all the officials to be severely punished.
Actor-turned-virtue-signaller Suriya Sivakumar and other social media personalities issued a ‘strong statement’ against the custodial death of Jayaraj and Bennix.
Come 2022, the DMK is in power and incidents of death due to custodial torture are being reported every now and then.
While some of the Dravidian Stockists media have done name-sake coverage of these incidents, the self-proclaimed champions of human rights stand with their mouths zipped.
Here are some of the recent incidents of death due to police torture that deserve as much traction as that of the Sathankulam case.
Incident 1
Rajasekar, a 33-year-old resident of Munthiri Thoppu in Tiruvallur district was brought to the P6 Kodungaiyur police station on June 11, 2022 for an inquiry regarding two burglary cases.
He was brought dead to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital on June 12.
The autopsy report said that there were multiple external injuries on Rajasekar’s body of which two injuries were caused about 18-24 hours prior to his death.
Incident 2
In another case in Nagapattinam district, a 44-year-old man named Siva Subramanian working at a cycle repair shop died in judicial custody.
Siva Subramanian along with his brother Ganesh had gone to meet one Venkatesh, who had borrowed ₹95,000 from Ganesh. The trio got into a brawl which turned into a physical fight where Siva, along with others, attacked Venkatesh.
Siva Subrmanian was detained by the police based on Venkatesh’s complaint. According to the police, Siva suffered seizures when he was in jail and was taken to Nagapattinam Government hospital for treatment.
He died at the hospital on the evening of June 13, 2022.
The police have brushed aside reports of custodial torture and have said that Siva Subramanian died due to alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Incident 3
On 18 April 2022, two youth in their twenties travelling in an auto were stopped by the police during night check at Kellys. Vignesh (25), a Scheduled Caste youth who used to offer horse rides at the Chennai’s Marina Beach and Suresh (28), a construction worker, were reportedly in possession of ganja and liquor. When the police confronted the duo, there was a verbal duel and Vignesh allegedly tried to attack the police with a knife. They were pinned down and later brought to the G5 Secretariat Colony police station.
Vignesh later developed health complications. He started vomitting and had seizures. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. Vignesh’s relatives reportedly saw injuries in several parts of the body. A case of “suspicious death” was registered and a police sub-inspector, a constable and a home guard personnel were suspended in connection with the incident.
Incident 4
Another incident was reported in Tiruvannamalai where a man named Thangamani, was taken into police custody on April 26, 2022 to inquire about illegal liquor sale in the area.
Relatives of the deceased alleged that the police had filed a false case and that the inspector had sought money to set them free.
The police on the other hand reportedly claimed that Thangamani had fits the next day and was rushed to the hospital. He apparently died in the middle of the treatment.
Thangamani was from the Kuravar community, a Scheduled Tribe.
Incident 5
In another incident that happened in January 2022, a physically-challenged man named Prabhakaran was locked up for allegedly stealing jewelry from a provision stores owner. Prabhakaran fell ill in the jail following which he was rushed to the Namakkal Government Hospital for treatment and was later shifted to the Salem Government Hospital. He died on January 12. Prabhakaran’s relatives have alleged police torture as the reason for the death. Three police officers were suspended.
Prabhakaran too belonged to a Scheduled Caste community.
Incident 6
The victim was a farmer who had consumed liquor and was caught travelling on his bike along with a group of friends. He had engaged in an argument with police officials, who were trying to penalise for his drunk and drive attempt. At that point, Special Sub-Inspector Periyasamy attacked Murugesan, following which he fainted and fell down on the road. He stopped thrashing him only after he fell unconscious on the road. A complaint was registered against SI Periyasamy, and he was arrested.
Incident 7
A college student named Manikandan from Ramanathapuram district who was travelling in his two-wheeler, was stopped by the police for a vehicle check on 4 December 2021. He did not stop and sped away, leading to a chase by the police. After being caught, he was taken to the police station and was allegedly beaten up by the police officials. He was not let to go, until his parents went to the police station.
The 21-yr-old passed away around 3:30 am next morning. The family of Manikandan alleged that he passed away due to police brutality. However, the police denied these allegation showing a postmortem report that revealed that he died because of poisoning and not brutality.
Incident 8
In December 2021, a 67-yr-old man died after he was released from police custody in Villupuram. Ulaganathan, was allegedly questioned for running a petty shop shop selling snacks and water bottles near a TASMAC liquor shop. The AK Nallur police told him to stop selling snacks in the area as it was turning into a menace with drunk men using the area like a makeshift bar.
However, the police allegedly used force to prohibit from running the shop. According to the complaint filed by Ulaganathan’s wife Rani, a policeman hit Ulaganathan in the chest, after which the latter fell down unconscious. She further claimed when her son tried to give Ulaganathan water, he didn’t drink it. Ulaganathan was taken to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
The Police claimed that he previously had a heart condition and that was the reason behind his death. They also alleged that he fainted while they were just generally questioning him. While a case was registered by Ulaganathan’s son, there has been no report of concrete action taken against the police officers, not even an enquiry.
None of the above incidents received the traction that the Sathankulam incident received.
This dead silence now and selective outrage from Dravidian Stockist media and Kollywood celebrities tells a lot about their opportunism and how they stand in mercy at the gates of Gopalapuram.