VILLIUPURAM: More than two years after seven members, including two minors, of the Irular tribe were allegedly tortured in police custody by personnel from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the survivors and activists say justice continues to remain elusive, with no action initiated against the police officials accused in the case.
Among the victims is Kathik*, now 20, who is partially blind and had alleged that police officials rubbed green chillies into his eyes and brutally assaulted him for two days in custody in connection with theft cases that he claims to be not involved in.
The alleged torture took place between February 25 and 28, 2023, when Kathik, his 17-year-old brother Parthiban* and five other Irular men from Aaru Puliyamaram settlement near Kumaramangalam in Vanur taluk were picked up by Katterikuppam police in Puducherry along with personnel from Tamil Nadu police stations, including Mailam and Kandamangalam.
According to R Sengeni (48), one of the survivors among all the daily wage labourers employed at a private brick kiln at the time, “We were forced to confess to multiple theft cases registered in Villupuram district and Puducherry. We were picked up one after another and lodged at unidentified places by cops, who thrashed even minors.”
The minors were later lodged in an observation home after being remanded on March 1, 2023. They were let out roughly after a month. The victims have petitioned the state SC/ST commission and police to investigate the alleged police torture thereafter.
“It has been two years but there is no sign of justice for us as our case on the police torture has not been responded to. Nobody from the government bothered to inquire what happened. We seek the new government, at least, to look into our case and find the truth, deliver justice to us,” said the 50-year-old mother of one of the minors who was in the correction home.
Though activists and lawyers representing the tribal families submitted petitions seeking an inquiry into the alleged custodial violence, no substantial progress has been made so far. The accused policemen continue in service while the survivors face social stigma and financial distress, they said.
Advocate S Sukumaran, who represented the tribal men, alleged that police routinely target vulnerable Irular communities in unsolved theft cases. “Despite inconsistencies in the cases and evidence showing the men were working elsewhere during some of the alleged thefts, there has been no accountability,” he said.
Activist Kalyani urged both the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments to constitute an independent inquiry. “The victims were minors and members of a particularly vulnerable tribal community. Yet the system has failed to deliver justice even after two years,” the activist said.
(*Names of all persons who were minors at the time has been changed)