An incident that occurred in the southern part of India shook the entire nation. A father-son duo was mercilessly beaten up by the local police, which caused their deaths. People from every part of the nation are outraged by this. Earlier videos had surfaced where policemen were seen toppling vegetable carts full of fresh vegetables to enforce people to follow regulations and protocols of lockdown. Social media is where everyone is showing their anger and disappointment and the #JusticeforJayarajandBennix is trending on all social platforms. People have also compared this to the recent act of racial discrimination in the US where Mr. George Flyod died during his arrest due to chokehold he was put into by the police.
What happened?
Mr. Bennix, age 31, owned a mobile phone shop in Sathankulam town in Tamil Nadu. On 18th June 2020, Mr. Bennix kept his shop open till 8:15 p.m. whereas according to regulations released by the administration of the state, all shops had to be shut by 8 p.m. Patrolling policemen pulled up Mr. Bennix for missing the deadline for shutting his shop and this lead to an argument between Mr. Bennix and the policemen. The policemen left after Mr. Bennix had shut his shop.
The very next day those policemen returned to Mr. Bennix’s shop and found Mr. Jayaraj, age 59, managing the shop in absence of his son. The policemen tried to shut Mr. Jayaraj’s shop despite it being daytime and this led to another argument, this time with Mr. Jayaraj instead of Mr. Bennix. Soon the policemen took Mr. Jayaraj to a local police station. Mr. Bennix rushed there as soon as he received this news, where he along with his father were booked under numerous sections of IPC, including Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 353 (use of force to deter public servant from duty) amongst others.
They were later shifted to a local sub-jail where they were brutally beaten by the cops and if one may say ‘beaten to death’. Family members also say that they were sexually assaulted by the cops with lathis and whatnot. They had to change over 6 lungis in just one day as the bleeding wouldn’t stop. The same evening after they started complaining about chest pain, they were taken to hospital where Mr. Bennix succumbed to his wounds on the same night while Mr. Jayaraj passed away the following morning.
What the police say happened?
According to the police reports and the FIR filed by them, Mr. Bennix’s shop was open post 9:15 when they stopped and asked him to shut his shop. According to the policemen, Mr. Jayaraj and Mr. Bennix were with their friends when police showed up and when the police asked them to shut their shop, both of them sat on the ground and started abusing the policemen. Policemen even added in their reports that both of them rolled on the ground and that is how they severely injured themselves and that it was their own fault that they died of these injuries. Policemen claimed that both of them threatened to kill the police officers if they did not leave them alone.
Conclusion
The narration of events given by the police is highly unbelievable. Why would someone beat themselves up till death? The Madras High Court on 29th June 2020 has held that it is up to the Tamil Nadu State Government to hand over the investigation to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Four police officers, including two sub-inspectors, have been suspended. People outraged by this incident and alleged murder call for stricter actions against the police officials involved in this incident. Madras High Court took suo moto cognizance of the matter and on June 24th, 2020 had ordered the Superintendent of Police to investigate the matter and submit a report before the Court. The Court was furnished with post-mortem reports later. Wife of deceased Mr. Jayaraj has in a letter of complaint to district criminal court and assistant commissioner sought that the policemen responsible for their death be charged under Section 302 for murder. She also mentioned in her complaint that the police had abused both the deceased verbally and physically and threatened to kill them. India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had reported that there are nearly 15 cases of custodial violence and torture reported every day, with an average of 9 people dying of them for the year 2017-18. These numbers are terrifying and if the police keep getting away with such heinous crimes then it is not a great sight for the future of the nation. Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and we hope that this enquiry yields fruit and justice is served for Mr. Jayaraj and Mr. Bennix.
