Jayaraj-Bennix killing | A fatal mix of police brutality and State inaction

In normal course, custodial deaths attract cursory attention in Tamil Nadu — after all, the state enjoys a dubious second place in India for custodial deaths. However, it was the sheer brutality of the manner in which Jayaraj, a small mobile shop owner, and his son Bennix, both hailing from the town of Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district, were reportedly tortured that catapulted the incident to national prominence.

On June 19, police arrested Jayaraj for apparently violating lockdown norms and not closing his shop before the night curfew. Different versions of the events that led to the arrest exist, however, the account of events that unfolded in the Sathankulam Police Station are horrifying. According to Jayaraj’s family, Jayaraj was brutally beaten and when his son Bennix rushed to the police station, and tried to prevent the police from beating his father, he too was thrashed. The policemen then refused to allow the family to see the duo and continued the brutal assault on the two men for most of the night.

It is alleged that lathis were pushed into their private parts causing them to bleed profusely. The police then produced the two before a doctor who felt they were fit for remand, and then before a magistrate who cleared their remand. All the while the men were bleeding — bleeding so much that their lungis/cloths had to be changed repeatedly. The men were then taken to the Kovilpatti Sub Jail where the family was denied a meeting with them citing COVID-19 restrictions. A day later Bennix developed breathlessness and died. The following morning Jayaraj too passed way.

The policemen accused in this dastardly crime have a notorious track record of custodial violence, and the systemic failures across the board sparked outrage all over Tamil Nadu. Why were their excesses not noticed earlier? How did the doctor issue a fitness certificate? How did the magistrate issue a remand order for persons who were visibly bleeding? How did the jail authorities agree to take the injured men in? There are few answers.

The tardy handling of the case by the state government led to more anger. Instead of slapping murder charges and arresting the accused policemen, the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led government tried to show it was acting on the case by suspending some of the accused and transferring a few others. A magisterial inquiry was ordered, and the magistrate has recorded that while conducting an inquiry witnesses were intimidated with policemen videographing the inquiry and a constable even used expletives to say that the inquiry could achieve little.

Eventually, under immense pressure, the government has decided to hand over the case to the CBI — but not before it was clearly seen to be dragging its feet on acting against the accused policemen.

Incidentally, Thoothukudi is also where the killing of 13 people by police during the anti-Sterlite agitation took place. That case too, like so many others, meanders on.

Thoothukudi has a strong presence of the powerful Nadar community, many of whom are traders and businessmen. While the incident received universal condemnation, it did not stop the Opposition from also trying to play the caste card. The Congress even put out posters and press releases with the caste names of the victims. The main Opposition party, the DMK, whose stronghold Thoothukudi is, sent its top leaders including Kanimozhi (the local MP) and Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of DMK Chief MK Stalin, to pay their condolences in person. The DMK  gets the major share of the minority vote in Tamil Nadu and the victims in this case were Christians making it all the more necessary for the party to take a strong position on the issue.

The Nadars in southern Tamil Nadu are either Hindus or Christians. They are relatively prosperous and are one of the dominant castes of the region. Traders in the area immediately organised protests and downed shop shutters for a day. While there appears to be no direct caste or community angle to the case, local media reported that one of the accused policemen belonged to a rival caste, and was severe in his dealing with members of caste groups other than his own.

Like several police forces across India, the Tamil Nadu Police often acts with a sense of impunity. Emboldened by the fact that cases roll on for decades and hardly anyone gets punished for custodial deaths, the brutal beatings handed out at police stations, especially against the poor and those without connections, continue unabated for decades.

A few months ago the photos of several youngsters with their arms in a sling, presumably due to a fracture, would be periodically posted on social media claiming that they were picked up for petty offenses and had ‘slipped in the police station bathroom’. This led to memes and caustic remarks, but little action was taken by the senior leadership of the Police or the government. In fact ‘slipped in the bathroom’ became a code phrase for police beatings.

The Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance of this case and flayed the AIADMK government for its lackadaisical response. The Sathankulam incident has presented an opportunity to demand and push through the Prevention of Torture Bill that has been pending for over a decade. Originally passed by the Lok Sabha in 2010, the Bill failed to clear the Rajya Sabha and then lapsed. Then in 2017, the Bill was resurrected as the Prevention of Torture Bill 2017, but as yet it has not been passed by either House.

States are not keen to back any law that makes its police more accountable. If the death of Jayaraj and Bennix serves as an inflection point for the passage of this Bill, the two men would not have died in vain. Irrespective of the fate of the Bill, the policemen involved in the dastardly killing of Jayaraj and Bennix must be given the strictest punishment under law.

Sumanth Raman is a Chennai-based television anchor and political analyst. Views are personal.