The trial in the alleged custodial killings of P Jeyaraj and his son, J Bennicks, began on Thursday at a district court in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai even as their family has sought speedy justice. The two were picked up in June for allegedly keeping their mobile shop open beyond Covid-19 induced lockdown timings and tortured in custody.
Lawyer Rajiv Rufus said nine accused were produced before the court on day one and the judge asked the public prosecutor to furnish details of the charges before adjourning the proceedings until February 22.
Jeyaraj’s daughter, J Percys, said they want a speedy trial within two months and justice so that such killings are prevented. Percys and her mother, Selvarani, have filed a petition in the high court seeking the speedy trial. The trial in the case was to begin in November but was delayed as the accused were previously produced before Madurai’s chief judicial magistrate amid jurisdictional issues.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe into the case in July, has charged the nine for wrongful confinement and murder.
Selvarani, who lived with her husband and son, has since moved to Percys’s home in Puliyangudi, where the Tamil Nadu government has offered her a job. “It is still so painful for us. We have not told our mother about the details of the charge sheet. No one will be able to bear such details. She still has sleepless nights,” said Percys.
{{/usCountry}}Selvarani, who lived with her husband and son, has since moved to Percys’s home in Puliyangudi, where the Tamil Nadu government has offered her a job. “It is still so painful for us. We have not told our mother about the details of the charge sheet. No one will be able to bear such details. She still has sleepless nights,” said Percys.
{{/usCountry}}The CBI’s charge sheet last year detailed the torture the two allegedly underwent for six hours in June at the Sathankulam police station. They were allegedly made to bend over a wooden table, wearing only their undergarments. Police allegedly beat them with lathis. A magistrate’s report earlier said their blood was found on the lathis, a table, and police station walls.
Police picked up Jeyaraj on June 19 from his shop. Bennicks followed him to the police station to seek his father’s release. Selvaranai last saw her husband an hour before he was taken into custody when he had come home with a packet of milk and told her that he would return with Bennicks and have tea together.
Selvarani last spoke to her son and husband over the phone when they were being taken to a court the next day where the magistrate did not question their visible injuries.
Bennicks succumbed to his injuries on June 22, and Jeyaraj the next morning.
The family was hoping to have Bennicks married by the end of the year. A close-knit middle-class family, they would speak to each other every day since they lived in different cities. Jeyaraj would call his three daughters thrice daily. “Now, I follow the same routine,” said Selvarani. “We cannot get them back, but we must get justice. Custodial deaths should end with my husband and son. It should not happen to anybody else.”