Four Dalit men have died in police custody within a span of two months. Activists allege custodial torture and say the deaths reflect a disturbing pattern of caste prejudice within policing.
A 26-year-old Dalit man, Akash Delison, died in police custody in Sivaganga district. Alleging torture by police, the family has refused to receive his body and continue to protest.
Tamil Nadu: Most victims were poor and marginalised
Tamil Nadu: Most victims were poor and marginalised
An analysis of custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu in the past four years show the majority of victims belong to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes and from poor economic backgrounds. Many were arrested for petty crimes.
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caste of 12 victims could not be verified.
Jeyaraj-Bennix custodial deaths: Activists barred from visiting Sathankulam police station
Executive Director of People’s Watch, Henri Tiphagne, and human rights defender from Chhattisgarh, Himanshu Kumar, were attempting to inspect the Sathankulam police station for CCTV installations when they were denied entry.
Tamil Nadu’s police brutality: Sathankulam and the system that let it happen
Since 2022, 24 custodial deaths have occurred in Tamil Nadu as a direct result of police torture, including that of a 17-year-old in the Chengalpattu juvenile home who endured unimaginable abuse, leaving him with 96 injury marks.
How a summer camp in Tamil Nadu is helping reclaim childhoods lost to police violence
An annual, week-long camp organised jointly by People’s Watch and Manonmani Trust, a Chennai-based NGO, has been running quietly for nearly two decades, in an attempt to let the young ones cherish their childhood at least for a few days every year.
TN police’s ‘slippery’ toilets: Data shows over 300 suspects fractured limbs in custody
New RTI data from Puzhal prison suggests custodial torture is a grim pattern, with over 300 inmates entering jail with broken limbs.
This story is part of our series on Police Impunity in India. Reporters from The News Minute and Newslaundry are travelling across states to bring you stories of negligence and abuse of power by the police, and how minorities and marginalised sections suffer the most.
People’s Watch urged the State Human Rights Commission to probe the recent killing of a chain snatcher
by Chennai police and demanded that the police onnel involved be immediately suspended.
When the State praises ‘encounter specialists’ like S Velladurai IPS for their extra-constitutional acts, and spares ‘torture specialists’ like Balvir Singh IPS, police accountability goes for a toss.
Police have gunned down Subash Chandra Bose, a history sheeter, allegedly in an act of self-defence.
Days after the alleged “encounter” of a chain snatcher in Chennai, a history sheeter has been shot dead by police in Madurai. Extrajudicial killings are often described as “encounters” by police. The deceased, identified as Subash Chandra Bose, was killed on the night of March 31. Police have again claimed it an act of self-defence.
