Dr. Abraham Mathai: President-Indian Christian Voice & former Vice Chairman, Minorities Commission
Same police officers who were involved in Tuticorin custodial deaths said to be responsible for human rights violations against Christians earlier this year
By not registering FIR and transferring investigations to the CBI,we can infer that the CM doesn’t disagree with the conduct of the guilty cops !!
In shocking developments that have now come to light, some of the police officers in the Tuticorin custodial death cases are believed to have also been involved in religious persecution and human rights violations earlier this year.
The whole country’s conscience was shocked when Jayaraj and his son Bennix were allegedly brutally tortured in police custody and died from injuries sustained on account of the brutality and incidentally, the two were Christians.
Today, as news comes in that some of the same officers who are believed to be responsible for the deaths of Jayaraj and Bennix were also involved in brutally assaulting a Christian Pastor and eight of his members and detaining them illegally in police custody in February, one wonders if the deaths of Jayaraj and Bennix was religious persecution perpetrated by men in khakhi !
These very police officers Ragu Ganesh and Balakrishnan and head constable Murgan responsible for the custodial deaths of the father and son were involved in the beating up of the Pastor along with 8 members of his church who were illegally detained in the police lock up for their faith. These particular police officers of Sathankulam police station physically tortured them by beating them with batons all over their bodies including their private parts and even ridiculed them for their faith in Christ and mocked them by asking them to invoke the help of Christ at that moment to save them from their clutches.
Due to the severe injuries caused by the brutal blows of the baton especially the back and spinal area, Pastor Lazar and Mr.Nallathambi had to be admitted at the Tirunelveli Medical College for 4 days to undergo treatment. Another physically handicapped member of the church by the name of Ayyadurai was also severely beaten on the legs, spinal area and his genital parts and he had to be admitted in the Rameshwaram Government hospital for treatment.
After their release from their illegal incarceration, this group of Christians had filed a complaint to both the State Minorities Commission of Tamil Nadu and the State Human Rights Commission but due to the lock down their petition haven’t yet been responded to.
This raises serious questions as to whether religious freedom exists in the state of Tamil Nadu and if the state government is trying to bury the incident as a one off incident instead of a series of persecutions against the Christian community.
The case of George Floyd resulted in Indians demanding for action. George Floyd’s death shook the conscience of the world as we all could see the video of that brutal act. If one was shown the Tuticorin father and son double murder on video with their knees being smashed and bamboo batons brutally pushed into their rectum anyone will agree that Floyd’s murder is no comparison to this barbaric and savage act.
When police brutality resulted in the death of George Floyd in the United States, the people came onto the streets to protest which resulted in the machinery taking action against those allegedly involved. Do we also need a George Floyd kind of demonstrations to awaken the conscience of the authorities that things are seriously wrong and getting out of control?
The Christian community today condemns this systemic attack on its members by the police in Tamil Nadu as it has now been revealed in Sathankulam, which when translated in English means Devils pond and the action of the police proved to be no less.
Dr. Abraham Mathai: President-Indian Christian Voice & former Vice Chairman, Minorities Commission
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