TW: #policebrutality, rape. Eyewitness accounts allege the father-son duo of Jayaraj and Bennix were brutally beaten and sexually assaulted by Tuticorin police (thefederal.com/states/south/t…). The police version doesn't answer some crucial questions: thenewsminute.com/article/justic…
Jayaraj (58) was picked up by Tuticorin police on June 19, allegedly because his woodworks shop was open beyond curfew hours during lockdown. If you ever needed an example of how a pandemic can be used to enable abuse of authority, here it is.
The FIR lodged on June 19 says Jayaraj & his son Bennix were both at the shop when police showed up: "We told them to disperse ... Jayaraj and Bennix sat on the ground and abused us verbally and rolled on the ground. In this, they suffered internal injuries.” That's some rolling.
There are eyewitness accounts of only Jayaraj being taken to the police station. Friends say his son Bennix, 31, went to the police station, worried about his father and ended up getting arrested. The FIR, however, claims the two were brought to the station together.
Friends of Bennix say they saw Bennix being assaulted by Tuticorin police before they were forced out of the station. "At least five policemen ... beat him black and blue in front of us ... From 7 pm to 10 pm, we heard only the screams and cries of Jayaraj and Bennix."
Police say Jayaraj & Bennix were taken to hospital for a fitness test on June 20. Friends of the duo & eyewitnesses (who say the police ordered them to transport the duo to hospital) say that in 5 hrs, the duo changed "at least 7 lungis each as they had become wet due to blood".
Bennix passed away on June 22 and Jayaraj passed away on June 23. Bennix's sister Percy has accused eight policemen and four police volunteers of assaulting her father and brother. The post-mortem report of Jayaraj and Bennix's bodies is awaited.
Percy, who saw Jayaraj and Bennix's bodies and believes they were tortured in police custody, told the press on June 24 that "there was nothing left" of their bodies. Tuticorin has come out to protest Jayaraj and Bennix's deaths, leading to a high court-ordered post mortem.
Sorry. Tuticorin should be Thoothukudi. My bad. More importantly, this is a horrific story and the police need to be held accountable. Jayaraj and Bennix probably won't be remembered around the world like George Floyd, but at least within India we can demand justice for them.
Please tell me our outrage doesn't need to be fed detailed descriptions of the horrific injuries Jayaraj and Bennix sustained. Because if you need to imagine the visual of their mutilated bodies to rustle up a reaction, then you may well be fetishising the violence. Please don't
Some more details of the case in this report, which has quotes from police officers who are aware of/ involved in the probe into the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennix: indianexpress.com/article/india/… 
