MADURAI: The Madurai City Police on Wednesday conducted the last rites of R Aakash, who died due to alleged police custodial torture on March 8, at the Thathaneri crematorium in the city. The cremation was held in the presence of his family members, including his parents.
This followed a direction from the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday to authorities, including the Collector, Corporation Commissioner, and the Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital, to ensure a dignified cremation of the remains.
The family had refused to receive the body, which had been kept in the mortuary of Government Rajaji Hospital for more than three months. Though Justice L Victoria Gowri had earlier directed the family to claim the body by 5 pm on Monday, they declined. The family contended in court that they would not receive the body unless stronger action was taken against the officials involved.
When police arrived to take the body on Wednesday morning, family members and protesters objected. Police temporarily detained the protesters and shifted the body to the crematorium.
The family, including the parents, later reached the crematorium and paid their last respects to Aakash. As per the court’s direction, the dignified disposal of the body was documented through photography and videography.
According to the prosecution, Aakash suffered a fracture in his right leg after jumping from a railway bridge while trying to evade arrest in an assault case on March 5. He was taken to the Manamadurai Primary Health Centre, then to Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital, and later to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, where he developed breathing difficulties and died three days later.
However, Aakash’s family alleged that he sustained the injury during police torture. The remand report recorded by the Manamadurai judicial magistrate on March 7 also contained Aakash’s statement, in which he claimed that he was blindfolded and his right leg, placed on stones and covered with a wet sack, was beaten with an iron rod, resulting in broken bones, bleeding, and severe pain.