SATHANKULAM is a small town in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil name can be translated into English as ‘a pond where the devil resides’. The recent killings of a father-son duo in police custody tragically demonstrates that the epithet is not off the mark.    

On June 19th evening, Jayaraj (59), a mobile shop owner, was picked up by the Sathankulam police for interrogation. It was alleged that on the previous evening when a police patrol questioned him as to why he had kept his mobile shop open during the curfew hours imposed to combat the coronavirus, there was an altercation. On hearing that his father was picked up by the police on such flimsy grounds, Jayaraj’s son Bennix (31) went to the police station and saw that his father was being badly beaten up by the police. When Bennix tried to stop the police official, he was also taken into custody and both father and son were beaten up in indescribable methods. When some friends of Bennix tried to pacify the police, they were also thrashed and thrown out of the police station and its doors were closed. Since then during the whole night the beating of the father and son continued and their screams were heard at the taluk office, 500 metres away.

When the two were taken to the Sathankulam government hospital the next morning, Jayaraj’s veshti and Bennix’s pants were fully soaked in blood and they had to keep changing lungis at the hospital due to severe bleeding. Then they were taken to the Sathankulam magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody. Both were lodged at Kovilpatti sub-jail, which is about 80 kms away, instead of the nearby district jail in Perurani.

On June 22 at about 7.30 pm, Bennix reportedly developed chest pain. He died two hours after being admitted to Kovilpatti Government Hospital. Jayaraj too felt uneasy and breathless in the early hours of June 23 and died subsequently in the hospital.  The next day all of Thoothukudi district remained shut and traders across the state downed shutters in protest against the death of father and son at the hands of police who are euphemistically called as the “saviour of the people”.

As the issue took a serious turn, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on June 24 suo motu took up the case and a bench consisting of Justices P M Prakash and B Pugalendi issued a series of instructions to the government and the police higher-ups.

Upon learning this gruesome incident, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury issued a statement strongly condemning the custodial killings. He also demanded the state government provide employment to one member of the family and a compensation of Rs one crore to the family. Further he said that a high-level inquiry must be ordered into the circumstances leading to the magistrate’s action of remanding them, despite serious injuries, to a faraway prison; doctors who sent them to prison instead of admitting them in the hospital and prison officials who have failed to note the grievous injuries on their bodies while admitting them into the jail. The Tamil Nadu state committee of CPI(M) also demanded that all the officials connected to this case should be brought to book.

Meanwhile, on the directions of the Madras High Court, the judicial magistrate-I of Kovilpatti visited Sathankulam to collect evidence from the police station as well as to meet the family of the deceased. Upon pursuing his written report on his visit, the high court bench observed that the police were emboldened enough even to intimidate the judicial officer to put a spoke in the wheel of his inquiry. The magistrate’s report stated that while the ADSP and Dy. SP were present at the time of his visit, both officers exhibited an intimidating attitude towards him. When the CCTV footage at the police station was accessed, it came to light that it was calibrated in such a manner that every day’s record would get overwritten the following day despite having enough memory to hold. As such there was no footage of the day of the incident. To add insult to injury, a police constable told the inquiry officer in Tamil that he cannot do anything.

Upon learning this sorry state of affairs, the high court bench began contempt proceedings against the ADSP, Dy. SP and the constable and ordered them to report to the court on June 30. On that day, in view of the non-cooperation by the police during the hearing of the case, the court also directed the Thoothukudi collector to depute revenue department officials to take control of the Sathankulam police station for the purpose of preserving clue materials in the case. In respect of contempt proceedings against the police officials, the bench upon hearing them has given four weeks’ time to file their replies to the report of the judicial mgistrate-1, Kovilpatti on his visit to the Sathankulam police station. It is to be noted that it is the first time in the history of India since 1861 when the Indian Police Act came into force, a court has ordered for a police station to be taken over by revenue officials which is an admission that senior police officers cannot be trusted.

Meanwhile, on June 30, upon receiving the post-mortem report, the bench said that in their opinion the ante-mortem reports injuries found on the bodies of the deceased, coupled with averments in the report of the judicial magistrate-1, Kovilpatti, especially the statement of a woman head constable, would be prima facie enough to alter the case against the Sathankulam policemen, who were actively involved in the investigation of the case to one under Section 302 of IPC (murder). Meanwhile, to preserve the evidence in the case, the court appointed Tirunelveli CB-CID Dy. SP Anil Kumar as the investigating officer till such time as the CBI takes charge. The court also implored upon the designated Dy. SP that he will have before his mind’s eye the river of tears of the family of the two deceased, and will take up the investigation of the case in all earnestness for wiping their tears. He should also bear in mind that the court is also closely monitoring the case and adjourned the matter till July 2.

The CB- CID which took over the case as per the court's direction, filed the case under IPC Sec. 302 (murder) and arrested Raghuganesh, sub inspector and was searching for other accused on July 1st evening.