The families of the father-son duo Jayaraj and Fenix, who were killed due to police brutality in Thoothukudi have been offered relief of 10 lakhs by the Tamil Nadu government.
The 60-year old father and his son Fenix (30) had been detained by the police at Sathankulam Police station of Thoothukudi district, following a dispute over having kept their shop open despite the lockdown. The issue escalated to a point where Jayaraj was allegedly manhandled by the police. When his son Fenix interjected, they were both brutally assaulted by the Thoothukudi police.
It was later reported that Fenix had died in hospital and a few hours following that his father died too.
When this issue was brought to light, hundreds of people came out in support and the hashtag #JusticeforJayarajandFelix became viral on social media. This garnered a tremendous amount of support from the public as well as from celebrities. This caused a stir, and upon pressure from Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a suo-moto inquiry was launched into the case.
Following this outrage, the two sub-inspectors were suspended. Thoothukudi Collector Sandeep Naduri said based on the post-mortem report, action against the accused police personnel would be taken.