VIRUDHUNAGAR : A woman died on Tuesday after she allegedly fell from a police vehicle she was travelling in to receive the body of her son, who died by suicide following alleged custodial torture two days ago near Arupukottai.
On Sunday, 25-year-old Karnan went to the police station in connection with a theft case involving his father. However, after the inquiry, he returned home and allegedly died by suicide. Meanwhile, Karnan’s family members alleged custodial torture, and also suspected foul play over his mother Devi’s death. Police officers, however, refuted the allegations.
S Prithviraj, a former village administrative officer left his house to attend a family event on February 21 and returned home late at night. The next morning, he discovered that the doors of the cupboards in his bedroom were open. “I noticed that Rs 2.6 lakh cash and watches worth Rs 9,000 were missing,” Prithviraj stated in his plaint to the Arupukottai Town Police.
Police sources said that based on a confession, Karnan’s father Manikkam was arrested in connection with the case and Rs 70,000 was recovered from the accused. Karnan accompanied his father to the police station on Sunday. However, after the inquiry, Karnan was sent back. Police alleged that Karnan killed himself as he was embarrassed by his father’s crime. “Manikkam was previously involved in around 40 cases of break-ins. After a thorough probe, he was remanded to judicial custody,” police said.
On Monday, Devi submitted a petition to District Collector VP Jeyaseelan, stating that her son was beaten up at the police station during the inquiry and it was due to this that he died by suicide. She also alleged that the police tortured her husband and told him to accept that he stole from the VAO’s house.
“After taking my husband into custody on Sunday afternoon, the police called my son for inquiry around 4 pm. They searched my house and took the CCTV camera, a hard disk and a two-wheeler,” she stated in the petition. She further claimed that she visited the police station along with her two other children to meet her husband and son, but were denied entry by the police. “Around 20 strangers entered the station and attacked my husband and son. Police did not take any action. After I screamed at the police, they threw the strangers outside,” Devi stated in petition.
Speaking to TNIE, a relative of the victims said that since Karnan did not return after a long time, Devi asked them to check on him. “We found Karnan hanging in the house. We also noticed injuries to his leg and ears. Before we sent the body to the ambulance, I took photos of the injuries. The police snatched my phone and deleted the pictures,” the relative alleged. After Devi submitted a petition, the RDO and SP ordered a probe.
Karnan’s relative alleged that during verification of the CCTV footage at the station to check for allegations of custodial torture, revenue department officials did not check the complete footage, and even got consent to conduct an autopsy before checking the footage.
A senior police officer refuted all allegations. “The complete CCTV footage is available and no evidence of custodial torture was found. While travelling in the police van, Devi received a call and later fell from the vehicle,” the officer said.