TIRUNELVELI: State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) member V Kannadasan on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on a woman Sub-Inspector and recommended departmental action against her for illegal arrest, unlawful detention and custodial torture that led to the death of a 34-year-old man in Thoothukudi in 2017.
The SI, identified as J Chanthi Selvi, was serving at the Thoothukudi South Police Station at the time. According to the SHRC order, the victim, A Pandiyarajan, had gone to Abishekanathar Church to attend the Asanam Virunthu on February 2, 2017. As he allegedly did not follow the queue, fellow devotees pushed him down, triggering a quarrel. Police constable Rooba Roselin, who was on duty, intervened, and a second altercation broke out between her and Pandiyarajan.
Based on Roselin’s information, Selvi and other personnel brought Pandiyarajan to the station without filing an FIR. He was allegedly detained and tortured in custody. Only later was a case registered against him based on Roselin’s complaint. Pandiyarajan reportedly died while in police custody.
His wife, P Shanthi, told the SHRC that she was never informed about her husband’s arrest. In the early hours of February 3, police took her to the Government Hospital, where she found out her husband had died. “They claimed he died of heart disease, but he had no such condition,” she said.
Kannadasan cited reports from the SHRC Investigation Wing and the Judicial Magistrate, both of which confirmed rights violations. The order noted that the postmortem examination revealed contusions on the victim’s buttocks caused within 24 hours of death. According to the Magistrate, two IPS officers had examined Pandiyarajan’s body by removing all his clothes even before the postmortem violation of National Human Rights Commission guidelines. SI Selvi was with those officers during this,” read the order. Holding that Selvi violated the human rights of the deceased, Kannadasan cleared two other personnel of charges. He recommended the State government pay Rs 3 lakh to Shanthi within a month and recover the amount from Selvi. The complaint was filed by K S Arjunan of the CPM.
