Tuticorin: Fearing for personal life, a lady police constable in Santhakulam police confesses she seen brutality on Bennix & Jayaraj on Jun 19.
Police thrashed a demised father-son duo the whole night there, with batons utilized for reportedly assaulting them & a table carrying blood stains, stated Revathy, a lady head constable attached to the station has informed a judicial probe.
Mentioning Revathy’s announcement in a four-page record to the Madras High Court Madurai Bench, the Judicial Magistrate probing the demises stated she feared getting danger in case she disclosed the facts.
The Madras High Court, that took up the issue of the demise of the duo– P Jeyaraj & Bennicks, claimed sufferers of police harassment, had on Tue. transferred the probe to the CB-CID under DSP Anil Kumar.
Revathy ensured safety
In the past 24 hours, Revathy was immensely praised for coming forward as an eyewitness within the Sathankulam custodial demises complaint. From movie personalities to previous bureaucrats, multiple citizens have hailed her as courageous for her call to disclose information of assault over Jayaraj & Bennix to the Kovilpatti magistrate.
In her house in Sathankulam, where the official lives with her spouse & 2 kids, fear remains the dominant feeling.
“Citizens are praising me however I didn’t need any of this publicity,” she informs TNM, quoting to tweets & social media(SM) posts supporting her. “I didn’t need my announcement to the magistrate to be put out within the people domain & I put this appeal to them specifically. I actually don’t need to be tortured by Sr. authorities,” she states.
The 37-year-old’s announcement appears in both the Kovilpatti magistrate’s record to the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, & extra importantly within the High Court’s order, that is a people record. “I just informed the magistrate the fact regarding what I saw within the station. However as of now I’m scared of retaliation from Sr. officials for granting my announcement,” she sums.
In her announcement to the magistrate, she stated that the duo have been thrashed by this police until the in the morning of Jun 20 & that batons & tables have been blood stained following the brutality. On the basis of her announcement, the magistrate had received the batons of all police officials in Sathankulam station.
Discussing just how critical her announcement is to the complaint, the High Court instructed that she be given required protection.
“I’m worried that I’m in risk. In case they didn’t put my name within the documents I’d were less scared. They informed me they won’t utilize my name, & from I heard they’ve utilized it, I were quite disturbed,” she states. “I were relieved from that Sathankulam station however I don’t need to record to the next station I were published to now,” she sums.
Assurances from that dist. administration & SP going to support gain some of the confidence, the witness sums.
“I’ve given a letter to regional officials requesting for police protection for myself & my spouse, along with a mo off from work (5). I were quite irritated,” she states, “I want sometime to gather myself.”
Dist. Collector Sandeep Nanduri about the lady official’s appeal ensured that steps to make sure that she’s comfortable are already in progress, The Information Minute recorded.
“We’re following the High Court’s order to make sure that she gets protection. 2 police constables are appointed for protection for her & her spouse. In addition, we’ve also ensured her that she’ll be given 1 mo leave,” he states.
Even in his own record to the court, the magistrate clearly states that the lady constable has been extremely afraid to give her announcement & that he’d taken multiple steps to make her feel safe & assure her protection to gain her version reported.
“I’ve informed the magistrate everything,” states the police officer. “& as of now I just need to make sure safety for myself & my family (4).”
It’d also instructed protection for Revathy & her family (4).
In her announcement, Revathy informed the JM that “The 2 people have been beat up the overall night by police personnnel there (Sathankulam PS) utilizing batons. Because of this there have been blood stains on the batons & a table & she stated they (stains) must be received immediately as they (policemen) can try to erase them,” the record stated.
The JM claimed non-cooperation by this personnel in the PS (police station), involving when he sought handing over of the batons & stated the policemen heeded to his own insist only after being ‘forced’.
1 of them even fled the place by scaling a wall when sought for his own lathi.
He furthermore submitted that Revathy didn’t sign on her announcement immediately & did so after a long time upon being ensured of her safety.
Her announcement has been “reported carefully”, even though she has been apprehensive of getting danger in case she disclosed the fact.
Constable made disparaging remarks
The JM stated that during his own stay in the station on Jun 28, the police didn’t cooperate & 1 of them displayed “macho & intimidating body language”, even though a constable made disparaging remarks over him thereafter.
Incidentally, 3 personnel, ASP D Kumar, DSP C Prathapan & the constable Maharajan had on Tue. surfaced before the High Court on being summoned by it over the issue.
The constable informed the court he has been “overstressed” & had made the remark over the Judicial Magistrate by error.
The JM furthermore said that the settings of the CCTV tough disk within the PS (police station), in spite of having enough space of 1 terrabyte, have been configured in a way that the day’s footage going to be “automatically removed.”
Trying to disappear proof
The High Court had previously stated that from that record registered by this Judicial Magistrate, it has been able to discern that the Sathankulam police have been taking advantage of the truth the inquiry of the complaint has been in limbo & have been attempting to cause disappearance of proof.
They have been emboldened sufficient to even intimidate the JM during this inquiry within the station, Justices P N Prakash & B Pugalendhi had observed.
The original announcement of the Revathy must also be given to the the DSP Anil Kumar.
Jayaraj & his own son Bennicks, detained for ‘violating’ lock-down rules over business hours of their own cellphone shop, passed away in a hospital (3) in Kovilpatti on Jun 23, with the relatives alleging that they have been severely thrashed in the Sathankulam PS (police station) by this personnel previously.
The incident had triggered a country-wide furore, leading to the suspension of 5 policemen, involving an inspector & 2 Sub-Inspectors.
The Supervisor of Police were shunted out of Tuticorin & put on compulsory await.
All this personnel published in Sathankulam PS (police station) previously were transferred out.
The probe into the complaint was from transferred to the Central Bureau of Inquiry (CBI) by this TN govt, although the Court transferred the complaint to the CB- CID until CBI taken over, fearin proof may disappear.