TW: Violence, Police Brutality, Sexual Abuse.
Jayaraj and Bennix were lower-middle class hardworking father-and-son who owned a mobile shop in a small town in Tamil Nadu called Thoothukudi (Tuticorin).
Jayaraj and Fenix were detained by the local police on Friday night, June 19, 2020, for allegedly keeping their shop open past curfew time.
Initially, when the police saw their shop open, they supposedly confronted Jayaraj about it while verbally abusing them and being very rude, when all they had to do was ask them to close the shop. Then, when Bennix came in and saw what was happening he tried to reason with them. The police started hitting Jayaraj with a lathi. When Bennix tried to intervene he was hit too. They were then dragged to the police station, according to reports.
What happened to them at the police station was brutal. The description is taken from an IGTV video from an Instagram account.
“First, their knees were smashed with sticks or lathis. Their knees were completely crushed and smashed. Next, their faces were pushed against a wall and blows were rained on their backs and bottom till it ripped and bled. They were stripped completely and not even their underwear was spared. They were completely stripped naked and thrown into jail. They were taken to a spot where there were no CCTV cameras and steel-tipped wooden lathis or batons or sticks were shoved up their butt holes several times. There was also a great deal of torture and damage inflicted on their genitalia because eye-witnesses stated that both the genitalia and the backside were completely ripped and mangled. Their chest hair was ripped out. Three times during the course of this entire torture, their blood-soaked clothes were sent back to their homes and fresh clothes were demanded. After a phoney trial with the magistrate, which was arranged by the police, they were taken back into custody and two days later were pronounced dead- due to ‘heart failure and fever.”
The police officers responsible for these vile acts have been suspended, But that is not the solution. They need to be arrested. Just like the murderers of George Floyd. Use your voice, speak up against injustice.
This was a systematic murder of two innocent people by a group of people who clearly misused their position of authority. Don’t let them get away with this.
Sign this petition #JusticeForJayarajandFenix
Sign this petition to arrest the cops involved in the murder of Jayaraj and Fenix.
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