Prabhakaran (age 45) hails from Karuppur area of Salem district. The disabled person was arrested by the Namakkal district police on the 11th and lodged in the district branch jail. He was rushed to the Salem Government Hospital on the 12th where he succumbed to his injuries. Following this, his wife and relatives protested that Prabhakaran’s death was suspected.
With his family in support of Prabhakaran, Vizika’s state disciplinary action committee secretary Chowdhury Pavanthan and the Tamil Nadu Association for the Protection of All Persons with Disabilities’ Rights staged a protest in front of the Government Hospital. Following this, on the recommendation of the Namakkal District Superintendent of Police, Tiruchengode taluka first constable Kulantaivel, Puduchathram sub-inspector Poongodi and Chenthamangalam sub-inspector Chandran were suspended and transferred to the Western Freight IG. Salem Municipal Police Commissioner in charge Najmal Koda has ordered that his relatives agree to receive Prabhakaran’s body which is being kept at the Salem Government Hospital morgue.
“Prabhakaran is about 45. He is a disabled person from an underprivileged caste,” said Chowdhury, secretary of the Vizika state disciplinary committee, who was involved in a struggle with Prabhakaran’s family over the incident. His wife Amsala. He also belongs to the tribe. They have 2 sons. Prabhakaran’s wife’s sister’s house is on the Aroor side of Dharmapuri district. A case of theft was registered at the Chennamangalam police station in Namakkal district by his elder sister Natarajan. Unable to catch him on a charge of theft, Prabhakaran (a disabled man who lost both his legs due to polio) was suddenly beaten by 4 policemen on Adithravidar Street, Karuppur, Omalur taluka, Salem district. They do not even know that they are the police. When asked ‘why beat up’, his wife was also pushed and beaten by female police officers. The pigs all came together as they were being beaten and dragged away. ‘who are you?’ When asked, the constable of Karuppur station next door came and said, ‘Let them join hands with the Namakkal police to investigate. There is no problem.’ They were immediately taken to Namakkal district, Chennamangalam. They also called a taxi and took him away. They did not come in a police vehicle or in a police jeep. The incident took place on the 8th. They took them from here for about three and a half hours. It is five o’clock in the evening to go to Chernthamangalam. After going to Namakkal, he stayed at the station for 5 minutes and then left the police station near the station and beat him. They continued, ‘Agree .. Agree … Where is your cousin?’ Their sons are anxious to see their father and mother. Both sons, Jones and Joel, are orphaned. Joel, a 12-year-old boy, complained online when he asked for help from his grandfather’s daughter, saying, ‘Where are you going? On the 11th, Prabhakaran was rushed to the Namakkal Branch Jail as soon as he came to know that it was compliant. Salem wife imprisons his wife Amsala on the same theft charge.
As soon as Prabhakaran fell ill on the 12th, they hired a lawyer and rushed him to Namakkal Hospital. As soon as he could not get there, he was rushed to Salem Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital. The family gets a call at 11pm on the 12th. ‘Buy that your brother was admitted to the hospital feeling unwell while he was at the station’ then. They immediately told me to go and show up for an hour and they died suddenly and were pushed away in the march. The next day, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Prabhakaran’s family and relatives staged a protest at the entrance of the Medical College Hospital. If we make any demands, Amsala should be brought from the Central Jail immediately. The police should be prosecuted as murderers in IPC 302 and the government should give them jobs as the Tamil Nadu government gave them in the case of Jayaraj and Phoenix. Beyond all this we demanded that a case be registered under the Prevention of Torture Act as both of them are SCs and STs.
The police, however, kept the case in custody and registered a case under Section 176/1 without mentioning the death of 174 suspects. The next day the collector calls. Salem, Namakkal is being investigated in the presence of SP. We say everything in our request. At 8 pm on the 13th we went to the Collector to collect Amsala and gather him while we were protesting. At least suspend these five policemen. We said we would agree to an autopsy if suspended. They also arranged for a post-mortem yesterday. On behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Parthiban and I, the youth secretary Samurai Guru and I went to the party. There were two people on the team of doctors in the presence of the criminal arbitrator. The autopsy was videotaped on camera. After all the police had gone out, I, the samurai guru, Prabhakaran’s wife, Prabhakaran’s brother, and five others went inside as arbitrators. We took note of where the injuries occurred from the leg data. A chin on the cheek was swollen. The thigh was bruised. The round scars on the knee were virgin. The penis was peeled off. We took note of all this. Immediately, on the recommendation of Namakkal SP, a suspension order was issued for three persons. I should have told you today that I have suspended two people. Thus the body was purchased and buried today. The only thing that was done today was to bury the body, ”he said.