On Monday, the Madras High Court initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against several police officers in Thoothukudi district of Tamil N...
On Monday, the Madras High Court initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against several police officers in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu and ordered them to appear personally before its Madurai bench.
The officers were reprimanded after the judicial magistrate appointed by the court to investigate the custodial deaths of P Jayaraj (59) and J Bennix (31) on June 22 complained not just that the police officers had refused to cooperate with him when he visited the station but actually abused him. The father and son had been detained by the Sathankulam police on June 19 for keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond the permissible hours during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The two men were tortured in custody. Some reports indicated that they were sexually abused, which led to profuse bleeding. While the Tamil Nadu government initially tried to say that the deaths had occurred due to natural causes, public outrage and the High Court’s attention put the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on the spot. On Monday, the government was forced to order the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into the deaths.
The fact that the magistrate investigating the deaths was threatened by the police was shocking. However, the callousness of the lower...
