CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Ragupathi on Monday said the verdict in the Sathankulam custodial deaths case had exposed what he described as “falsehoods” propagated during the previous AIADMK regime, and demanded an apology from former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
In a statement, the Minister noted that the Madurai Additional Sessions Court on Monday had, after six years, convicted nine police personnel in the 2020 custodial deaths of a father-son duo, P Jayaraj and J Bennix, in Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district.
Describing the case as one of the most brutal instances of police violence in the State, he said the incident followed closely on the heels of the Thoothukudi police firing, in which 13 persons were killed, and had triggered widespread outrage across Tamil Nadu and beyond. The deaths of Jayaraj and Bennix had drawn national and global condemnation, comparable to international reactions following the killing of George Floyd in the United States, he said.
Ragupathi recalled that the then Leader of the Opposition, MK Stalin, had termed the incident a “double murder” and had consistently pressed for the registration of murder charges against the police personnel involved. He had also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and assured legal support to the victims’ family. The DMK had extended financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the family, he added.
The Minister said that Jayaraj and Bennix were not criminals, and the only allegation against them was that they had kept their mobile phone shop open during the COVID-19 lockdown. He criticised the then AIADMK government for allegedly attempting to downplay the incident.
Referring to a statement issued by Palaniswami on June 24, 2020, Ragupathi said the former Chief Minister had attributed the deaths to “breathing difficulty” and “ill health” following their remand. “The court verdict has now brought to light the falsity of those claims,” he said.
He further alleged that the previous regime had attempted to shield the accused police personnel by presenting misleading explanations for the deaths. “Justice has now been delivered in a case that was sought to be suppressed,” he said.
Ragupathi accused Palaniswami of having misled the public and demanded that he tender a public apology for attempting to “protect the guilty through false statements”.