THOOTHUKUDI/TIRUNELVELI: The family of 60-year-old P Jeyaraj and his 31-year-old son J Beniks, who died in police custody, says the duo was denied medical assistance for over two days though they had bleeding injuries. “Had they been handed over in time, we could have taken them to another hospital and saved them,” says advocate Manimaran, a friend of Beniks.
The family members of the duo arrived at the Tirunelveli medical college hospital on Wednesday, supported by associations, and staged a protest. They refused to receive the bodies until cases are registered on two police officials the family held responsible for the deaths. The family has requested for postmortem to be performed in the presence of the family doctor. Later in the evening, Magistrate MS Bharathidhasan inquired about the “injury marks” on the bodies with doctors at the GH. Shops across districts remained shut in protest. The traders demanded action against errant cops.
Manimaran, who was there at the spot, claims this is what happened on June 19. Jeyaraj was taken to the Sathankulam police station on charges that he had kept his shop open past 9pm the previous day. When Beniks went to the station to enquire about his father, he allegedly saw an officer beating him up. “When Beniks protested, the policeman ordered other personnel to beat him up,” he alleged. “I was there at the spot, and I heard the personnel shouting ‘how dare you speak against the police’ and then beating up Beniks.” Manimaran adds: “The situation took a turn for worse when SI Raghu Ganesh arrived, around 11.30pm.
Around the same time, volunteers of the Friends of Police also started thrashing them.” Manimaran says when he appealed, the police asked him to leave and return with a bail. “Though they committed no criminal offense, a station bail was refused.” Another friend of Beniks, Rajaram claims the duo was bleeding profusely while being taken to the GH at Sathankulam on Saturday morning to obtain medical fitness certificate. “The police did not allow any friends or family inside the hospital while obtaining certificate,” claimed a relative wanting to remain anonymous.
The family has alleged that the police did not provide medical assistance to the duo till Monday, though the bleeding continued. When inquired about the case, South Zone IG ShanmugaRajeswaran told Express postmortem was being done under the supervision of a judicial magistrate. Further course of action would depend on the report given by the magistrate. “Beniks requested me to get him and his father out of the station somehow. Those were the last words he spoke to me. I could not help them with a bail petition as it was over the weekend,” says Manimaran.The CM has condoled the deaths and offered a solatium of Rs 20 lakh.