E-Paper
Experts flag lack of law on custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu
India reported 73 deaths in police custody across the country in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data
The custodial death of a 29-year-old temple watchman, Ajith Kumar on June 29 has rekindled the conversation on police violence in Tamil Nadu. India reported 73 deaths in police custody across the country in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
In this list, the state of Gujarat has the highest number of custodial deaths at 14 followed by Maharashtra (11) while Tamil Nadu is sixth with five deaths.
However, for the same year, according to data collated by Tamil Nadu based People’s Watch, a human rights NGO which represents several families of victims of custodial deaths, there were 11 custodial deaths in 2022 which included a 17-year-old boy.
In the years of 2018-2019, out of the 136 custodial deaths reported in India, 11 were from Tamil Nadu. Gujarat (13) followed by Uttar Pradesh (12) topped the list, according to information based on NCRB furnished in the Lok Sabha in 2023 to a question by Thol Thirumavalavan, MP, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), an ally of the DMK.
The following year, in 2019-2020, out of 112 deaths in India, 12 were from Tamil Nadu–rising to become the state with the second highest custodial deaths along with Gujarat (12) when Madhya Pradesh was on top.
According to the activists and opposition in Tamil Nadu, there have been 24 custodial deaths since the DMK formed the government in 2021. However, according to the reply in the Lok Sabha, Tamil Nadu’s custodial deaths have come down from 2020-2023 reporting 13 deaths during the three years.
“The fundamental problem is that we do not have a law to report custodial torture,” said Aseervadhan, state coordinator, People’s Watch, Tamil Nadu based NGO. “And when cases are reported, it’s usually the low ranked personnel such as inspector or sub-inspector who will be arrested. But, if the custodial torture is committed by an IPS officer, he is protected.”
The activist was referring to the case of Balveer Singh, an IPS officer in the rank of an assistant superintendent of police who is accused of knocking out the teeth of the 10 suspects in Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district in 2023. The case is being heard by a judicial magistrate. The government suspended him in 2023 but reinstated him in a few months.
Tamil Nadu does not have institutional measures to prevent custodial torture — such as one in the Kerala Police Act 2011 which mandates any police officer who witnesses torture or corruption must report it without fear of reprisal.
The issue of police brutality is back in spotlight in Tamil Nadu after a temple watchman, Ajith Kumar, was picked up by the police on suspicion of theft, though he wasn’t even an accused, on June 27 in the Sivaganga district. Though no FIR was registered and he wasn’t taken into custody, he was beaten by police in the temple where he worked. When police took him to a hospital two days later, he was declared as “brought dead”.
Reading the injuries inflicted on Kumar, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on July 1 said that, “Even an ordinary murderer would not have caused this many injuries to a person.” Another staff in the temple secretary recorded a video of Ajith kneeling down while a policeman beat him with a stick.
Five policemen have been arrested on charges of murder. They picked up Ajith after receiving a complaint from a woman that she had given her car keys to him to park the car after which gold jewellery from her bag inside the car was missing.
While the court has ordered a judicial probe and chief minister M K Stalin transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a look at the status of other major custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu.
Jayaraj and Bennicks, Thoothukudi, 2020
Ajith’s death marks five years since father and son P Jayaraj (59) and J Bennicks (31) were tortured to death inside a police station in Thoothukudi district in June 2020. The brutality inflicted on the father and son shook the country. The trial in the case has been underway for the last three years in the Additional District and Sessions Court- 1 in Madurai district. “The last update was on June 23 when the bench dismissed a bail petition filed by the suspended police inspector S Sridhar,” Jayaraj’s son-in-law Vinod said. The family has been tirelessly tracking court proceedings. “It’s been five years since they died but we think about them every day. We will be patient and fight until the policemen accused in the case are punished.”
The CBI is currently handling the case. The father and son were arrested on June 19, 2020 and lodged in Kovilpatti sub-jail for keeping their mobile phone shop in the main market of Sathankulam town open during a curfew imposed during coronavirus lockdown. A policewoman is the only eyewitness in the case, and she told Judicial magistrate M S Barathidasan, who investigated the incident, that both Jayaraj and Bennicks were beaten through the night on June 19 and blood stains on the lathis and a table were visible.
The current opposition AIADMK was governing Tamil Nadu then. Whether Tamil Nadu has been under the DMK or AIADMK rule, police excess in the state has been a constant indicating a systemic crisis. “The challenge generally in custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu is that higher officials in the police usually try to cover it up. Like in Ajith’s case, they try to give the family money to silence them,” says Aseervathan, state coordinator, People’s Watch. “But, a new challenge is that now even ruling government politicians get involved whether it is the DMK or AIADMK and keep the family under their control so that they don’t file complaints.”
V Vignesh, Chennai, 2022
The policemen involved in the custodial death of a Dalit youngster V Vignesh (25) in Chennai have been charged for murder based on the post mortem report, chief minister M K Stalin informed the Tamil Nadu assembly in May 2022, a month after he died. The post mortem report of Vignesh confirmed that he had 13 injuries which included several contusions on his head, eyebrows, cheeks, limbs, an abrasion on his gluteal region and a fracture in his right leg. CCTV footage from the night he died on April 18 came to light in which Vignesh can be seen running away from the police and of them chasing and catching hold of him. “CB-CID has completed its investigation and trial began last month at a Chennai court,” said Aseervathan.
Thangamani, Tiruvannamalai, 2022
Thangamani (only first name) a 48-year-old man, died in custody in Tiruvannamalai. His post mortem report revealed that he had several contusions in various parts of his body in not more than six hours before his death and a laceration of his tongue. Police arrested Thangamani on April 26, 2022 on the charge of selling arrack (a country liquor). On April 27, Thangamani was admitted to the hospital where he died the same night around 8.30. This case too has been transferred to CB-CID and the chief minister said that a detailed enquiry would be conducted. “But, no chargesheet has been filed yet in the case,” said Aseervathan.
Gokul Sri, Chengalpattu, 2023
A 17-year-old child in conflict with Gokul Sri was beaten to death inside a government observation home in Chengalpattu December 2022. The boy had been booked for theft and died on the day he was admitted to the home and enquiries and post-mortem revealed that the staff had beaten him based on a complaint filed by his mother. Six staff were arrested in January 2023 on charges of murder. An all-party meeting was held in Chengalpattu demanding an inspection to be conducted on all Observation Homes by a retired judge of the High Court. In April, 2024 a government order was issued that a one-mad committee of justice (retired) K Chandru will go into the working of homes under the Juvenile Justice Act in Tamil Nadu to improve their efficiency. “96 injuries were found in the post mortem. CB-CID which is probing the case have not filed a chargesheet yet,” said Aseervadhan.
