MADURAI: One of the witnesses in the Sathankulam custodial death case gave her statement during the trial at the Madurai district court on Wednesday. Sister of J Beniks and daughter of P Jeyaraj -- the two traders, who died last year allegedly due to the torture by the Sathankulam police -- J Persis appeared before the Additional District Judge I, V Padmanabhan.
Persis stated that she tried to speak to her brother on June 20 morning, a day after the duo was taken into police custody. However, her brother could not speak due to pain. He only uttered ‘akka’ (elder sister), Persis claimed.
Persis’ counsel Rajiv Rufus told TNIE that one of the key accused, Inspector Sridhar, while cross examining Persis, questioned that if she suspected that the victims were tortured, why did she not complain to his superior before their death? “We already clarified before the court that at that time, the victims’ family was worried about their safety and was focusing on bringing them out of prison,” Rufus added. The next hearing has been scheduled on August 16.