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Jeyaraj and Fenix: Outrage mounts over deaths in Indian police custody

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Outrage is mounting over the deaths in custody of a father and son in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

P Jeyaraj, 58, and his son Fenix, 38, were arrested for allegedly keeping their stores open past permitted hours - Tamil Nadu is still observing a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid.

Both men were kept in police custody an entire night and died within hours of each other two days later.

Relatives of the two men say the men were subjected to brutal torture.

What has happened since their deaths?

As details of the alleged torture emerged, people began demanding action.

State opposition lawmakers have taken to the streets in protest, a traders body has condemned the actions of police, and a local court has taken up the issue for hearing.

The policemen who arrested the two men have been transferred, and the state government has awarded compensation of one million rupees (£10,716; $13,222) to their families.

The incident has also found its way to social media, which has in turn brought it into the national spotlight.

What has the reaction been like?

Initially, many questioned why there is little to no outrage over the deaths of the two men, when so many Indians on social media have been vocal about the fate of George Floyd in the US, whose death at the hands of a white officer has triggered a huge movement against police brutality.

Many Indian social media users have been supporting the protests against white police brutality against black Americans. However, this incident has been slower to pick up, partly because it took place in a smaller city - Thoothukudi, and it took some time to come to the attention of national media.

But in recent days, the issue has begun gaining traction as furious discussion began on various social media platforms. In a video which has had more than a million views, one user said she was "sick of people not discussing what happens in south India because it is not in English" and then proceeded to give a graphic account of the alleged torture of the two men.

There is also massive outrage that the policemen believed to be responsible for the men's deaths are not being charged with murder and have been merely transferred.

Now high-profile users such as opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and national cricketer Shikhar Dhawan have also tweeted, demanding justice for the two men and more accountability.


The issue of police brutality in India
Ayeshea Perera, BBC India online editor

The numbers are startling. A report by a consortium of NGOs against custodial torture have released a report in which they say 1,731 people died in custody in India during 2019. This works out to around five custodial deaths a day.

The report also describes several methods of torture.

The fact remains that torture and beating up suspects to extract confessions have become very much part of policing in India. Policemen who engage in it are rarely punished - most times they are simply transferred to another district or state.

The rare times that they are held accountable, judiciary have made stinging remarks about the need for reform.

In one verdict last year, a judge noted that "they are confident that they will not be held accountable even if the victim dies in custody and even if the truth is revealed."

In 2006, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that each state should set up a police complaints authority where any citizen can lodge a complaint against police officers for any misdemeanour. However, this has not been done in most states.

Activists say much more far-reaching intervention is needed to change the system

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53202707
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Horrified to hear about the brutality inflicted upon Jeyaraj & Fenix in Tamil Nadu. We must raise our voice and make sure justice is given to the family. &#55357;&#56911; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix</a></p>— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) <a href="https://twitter.com/SDhawan25/status/1276450277768302594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
NEW DELHI: The deaths of a father and son from alleged torture at the hands of police have sparked outrage across India, with many drawing parallels with the killing of George Floyd in the United States.

Their case has thrown a new spotlight on police brutality just weeks after the killing of Floyd, an African-American man, by a white police officer in the US led to worldwide protests.

J. Jayaraj, 58, and Bennicks Immanuel, 31, were arrested on June 19 and accused of keeping their store open past permitted hours in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which has reimposed a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

They died in hospital a few days later, officials said, with their family alleging in written complaints that they were severely abused by police and had suffered rectal bleeding.

Two policemen involved in the alleged torture were suspended, the state’s Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said.

The deaths in the small town of Sathankulam triggered a protest last week and shopkeepers across Tamil Nadu staged a strike on Wednesday.

“Reeling from what I’m hearing. Absolutely stunned, sad and angry... the guilty must not be allowed to go unpunished,” tweeted Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Saturday.

“Let’s demand for the same justice we did for George Floyd,” said actress Krystle D’souza.

State politician, social activist and lawyer Jignesh Mevani wrote that the “George Floyds of India are far too many.”

“Will Indians march on streets in thousands like in America?” he tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress party, described it as a “tragedy when our protectors turn into oppressors.”

Several reports by human rights groups in India have detailed cases of alleged torture of suspects in custody, with deaths often blamed by police on suicide or natural causes.

According to the National Human Rights Commission, 3,146 people died in police and judicial custody in 2017-18.

“Custodial violence and torture is so rampant in India that it has become almost routine,” it said in a report.

“It represents the worst form of excesses by public servants entrusted with the duty of law enforcement.”

Convictions in such cases are extremely rare, according to activists.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1696831/world
 
Amid nationwide outrage over the deaths of a father-son duo, alleged victims of police torture in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Sunday his government has decided to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The government's decision will be informed to the Madras High Court, which is seized of the matter, and secure its approval before transferring the case to the central agency, Palaniswami said.

"The government has decided that the CBI will probe the case," Palaniswami said.

P Jayaraj and his son Bennix, arrested for keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond permitted hours amid the lockdown, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23. Their family members have alleged they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by police personnel earlier.

A case was registered against them under IPC Sections 188, 383 and 506(II) and later taken to the Kovilpatti sub-jail. Three days later, the duo died within a gap of 10 hours.

In another development, the Inspector of Satankulam PS Sridhar, who was reportedly present when Jayaraj and Bennix were allegedly tortured last Friday, was suspended during the day. The inspector was earlier in the waiting list and transferred to a departmental unit on Friday.

Ever since the incident came to light last week, four police officers, including two sub-inspectors -- Raghuganesh and Balakrishnan – have been suspended.

A source said there have been several complaints filed against the two Sis even before the alleged custodial deaths of the father and son last week.

However, family members and friends of the deceased said mere suspension is not enough and demanded that murder charges be brought against the police officers.

https://www.news18.com/news/india/t...er-and-son-to-cbi-cm-palaniswami-2691321.html
 
Brutal incident.

Police reforms are a national issue, Kiran Bedi before becoming a BJP stooge wanted to do the same.


------

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Sunday his government has decided to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.


Not sure what else is expected from the CM, [MENTION=143530]Swashbuckler[/MENTION] [MENTION=134809]sensible-indian-fan[/MENTION] as I'm not back home not sure what average joe in TN thinks about current AIADMK .. but they seem less in news compared to before.
 
Not sure what else is expected from the CM, [MENTION=143530]Swashbuckler[/MENTION] [MENTION=134809]sensible-indian-fan[/MENTION] as I'm not back home not sure what average joe in TN thinks about current AIADMK .. but they seem less in news compared to before.

Some aiadmk followers are angry, as they voted for amma, not paneer or palani. This is not a party issue though, and is a tamil issue. TN has a culture of super cop movies showing police brutality and vigilantism. One of my friends dad has a movie being made on him (Pon Manickavel) though he was not into such encounter and lockup killings.
 
Tamil Nadu Custodial Violence Case: Six Booked On Murder Charges; Cop Arrested

The Crime Branch of the CID on Wednesday arrested a sub-inspector of police after it booked six people on murder charges in connection with the death of a father-son duo, allegedly thrashed at a police station in this southern district in Tamil Nadu.

The FIRs filed in the case were altered to include murder charges against two SIs -- Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan -- as many constables and members of Friends of Police, CB-CID
sources said.

The said Raghu Ganesh was arrested by the CB-CID officials, who took over the probe into the case which has triggered a nation-wide outrage.

P Jayaraj and his son Fennix, arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, with their relatives alleging they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by police personnel earlier.

The incident triggered a national furore, leading to the suspension of four policemen.

A government doctor’s report confirmed that the father-son duo had suffered multiple injuries, allegedly due to police torture.

The report by Dr. Venkatesh, who is attached to the Kovilpatti Government Hospital and was summoned to the Kovilpatti sub-jail to examine and treat the two detainees on June 20, recorded that both father and son had suffered injuries in the gluteal region, while Benicks had also suffered an injury on his right knee. In both the cases, the doctor recorded “Gluteal region – multiple marks present.” He had also recommended an X-Ray on the right knee of Benicks the next day. However, both of them got seriously ill on June 21 and died the next day at the Kovilpatti government hospital, first the son and later the father.

Custodial death of the two traders has again raised the spectre of police violence in Thoothukudi district and has put the present AIADMK government in a spot. It was in May 2018 that Thoothukudi witnessed police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in which 13 persons died and more than 100 got injured. The latest incident of custodial torture has once again shown the Tamil Nadu police in a poor light and has raised questions whether the lower level constabulary is having an unchecked run using the cover curbs imposed by coronavirus.

https://www.outlookindia.com/websit...case-murder-charges-filed-cop-arrested/355828
 
These cops were probably auditioning for a posting in Srinagar.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Horrified to hear about the brutality inflicted upon Jeyaraj & Fenix in Tamil Nadu. We must raise our voice and make sure justice is given to the family. �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix</a></p>— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) <a href="https://twitter.com/SDhawan25/status/1276450277768302594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oh, he has found his b@lls! I wonder where was this outrage in India when the police was killing Muslim protestors? Or raping Kashmiris?

Small, pathetic nation.
 
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