VILLUPURAM: K Appu (18), who has a partial visual impairment, and his brother Kattapan (17) were two of the seven Irulars allegedly arrested and assaulted in police custody for three days in February, and compelled to confess to a theft case. He further alleged that the police rubbed green chillies in his eyes and assaulted him.
While custodial torture on Irulas is nothing new, according to tribal activist Kalyani, the Ambasamudram case, where the now-suspended IPS officer Balveer Singh allegedly tortured 19 men, was the breaking point. Thus, activists and advocates have demanded action against officials who have been targeting members of the Irular tribals in Villupuram.
Both Appu and Kattapan went picked up and allegedly tortured similarly. "My father-in-law and myself were arrested by Katterikuppam police while we were returning from fishing on the night of February 25. We were taken to the station and beaten up. The police forced us to confess to thefts that we did not commit," Appu alleged.
He alleged that personnel from Katterikuppam police station in Puducherry along with Tamil Nadu police detained five more Irular men from Aaru Puliyamaram Irular settlement in Vanur taluk. The detainees worked as labourers at a private brick kiln for over three months, they claimed. The seven were in custody from February 25 to 28 and were allegedly forced to accept charges of theft in five cases filed at Kandamangalam and Mailam police stations in Villupuram district, and four theft cases booked at Katterikuppam station, sources said.
Both Appu and Kattapan alleged they were stripped and assaulted. Police records, however, show they were in judicial custody only on March 1 and sent to a juvenile observation home in Ariyankuppam, in Puducherry. Both were released from the home on condition bail on March 8.
Police sources from Mailam and Kandamangalam police stations have also denied the allegations. A senior police official on condition of anonymity said they had enough evidence to prove that the tribal men were involved in the thefts. Speaking to TNIE, advocate S Sukumaran, representing the accused men, said, "All cases are from late 2022 and early 2023. Police are in a rush to solve these cases, but instead of looking for the actual culprits, they are accusing innocent tribal men."
Urging the state government to intervene in the issue, activist Kalyani said, "None of the accused have a history of criminal cases. There is also evidence of their presence at the brick kiln during the alleged thefts. Even with so much proof of their innocence, if police arrest them, it is because they are an easy target and socially vulnerable."