Simon
Context of Torture
The Victim is a member of Joint Action Against Custodial Torture (JAACT).
The Victim played an instrument role in helping family of a deceased who was killed in police custody. The Deceased custodial death victim was about 30 years, belong to a Scheduled Caste, there was a few criminal cases pending against him. On 08.04.2021 he came down to at Tharasuram MGR Colony to attend a case hearing. The Kumbakonam Police came to know that he was in station and they nabbed him. Police alleged that seeing them the deceased victim jumped inot a lake nearby and tried to escape from the police and the police waited for him to surface and threw stones at him and killed him.
The Deceased mother had filed a write petition before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in WP (MD) No. 7959 of 2021 on 14.04.2021 and prayed to exhume the body to undertake a second post mortem. The High Court Directed to Exhume the body and subject the body to a second post mortem and directed the Crime Branch – Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) police to enquire into the torture and murder by the Kumbakonam police while in custody. The Second Post Mortem was conducted on 20.04.2021 and the Histopatholoogy indicated some anti-mortem hemorrhages.
The Victim was instrumental in taking up the case deceased victim and making state accountable in aiding the mother the deceased mother.
The Victim and his friends conducted a meeting to commemorate the first death anniversary of deceased torture victim. The invite of the meeting was widely shared in social media, wall posters in and around the district.
On 08.04.2022 police detained Mr. Vignesh and Mr. Sarvanan for sticking the wall posters for the meeting and seized 500 wall posters. On 09.04.2022 the Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Inspector of Police Kumbakonam called the victim and asked him not to conduct the meeting stating police denied permission to conduct the meeting. The Police also threatened the hall owner to cancel the booking.
The Police even prevented the victim and his joint action group in making arrangement for the meeting by keeping the hall under lock.
On 10.04.2022 the police opened the hall by giving the keys to the owner and gave oral permission to hold the meeting. When the meeting was started with a praise by drums and music, again a team of policemen came and interrupted the meeting and first arrested the drummers and then arrested the organizer of the meeting. Thereafer, the victim went to Kumbakonam Police station and intimated about the events being unfruled in the hall. Some of the people who came to meeting, staged a road blockade and protest against the police condemning the arrest. The Police have arrested 20 protestors along with the wife and children of deceased torture victim.
The Police registered two first information reports in Crime No 189 and 190 of 2022 against the victim and organizer of the memorial meeting.
Type of Torture
Sub Inspector Selvakumar and fellow policemen abused the victim and his friends by calling the case slurs. Then he brutally kicked the victim on the victims face and broke his jaw.
The Police hit the victim; they punched him and kicked him to knock the victim down. The Police beat the victim using lathis on his legs, buttocks and back.
Physical and Psychological Effects
The Victim was arrested in connection with Crime No 189 and 190 of 2022 and he was also falsely implicated in a Section 111 Criminal Procedure Code proceeding in Na.Ka. 2867/2022 M.C. No. 03-2022-Aa-4 dated 13.04.2022.
Description of assistance to be provided
- Legal Intervention before Madurai Bench of Madras High Court[i]
- Petition for Quash of the Crime No 189 of 2022
- Petition of Quash of the Crime No 190 of 2022
- Petition for Interim Stay of Proceedings in Crime No 189 of 2022[ii]
- Petition for Interim Stay of Proceedings in Crime No 190 of 2022
- Intervention in Criminal Proceeding before Judicial Magistrate No. II Court Kumbakonam.