The postmortem report of Rajasekar, who died in police custody on June 12, has revealed that there were multiple external injuries on his body that were caused while he was in police custody. Rajasekar was taken for questioning by the Kodungaiyur police, during which he complained of uneasiness and collapsed. When he was taken to the Government Stanley Hospital by the police, he was declared brought dead.
According to the autopsy report, 31-year-old Rajasekar was brought the hospital with complaints of dizziness and vomiting at 7.10 pm on June 12, from a private hospital, but he was declared dead by the doctors. The report also takes note of four external injuries on his body, of which two were caused about 18-24 hours prior to his death, one was dated 24 hours prior to death, and one was older than that.
The two injuries caused between 18-24 hours before his death are contusions on his left thigh, present between his thigh joint and knee joint; and another deep contusion on the front part of his right knee. Apart from this, a linear abrasion found on his right forearm has been found to be caused within 24 hours of his death, and 12 abrasions on his left leg are estimated to be from 3 to 5 days before his death.
However, the report also states that none of the injuries - individually or collectively - would be sufficient to cause death.
According to Executive Director of People's Watch, Henri Tiphagne, some of the injuries mentioned in the postmortem can only be caused due to police beatings. “This postmortem report establishes that he was beaten up in custody. The documents provided by his family also prove that he belongs to the Adi Dravidar community. Therefore, the SC/ST Act has to be invoked, and the police personnel responsible for this action should be arrested,” he said.
Meanwhile, TNM spoke to a forensic expert who said that the postmortem report establishes that there were injury marks on the victim’s body, but that those injuries were not fatal. “We will have to wait for the final report to conclude the cause of death. The injuries may not have caused death but the pain and trauma could have accelerated any of the victim’s pre-existing conditions,” the expert said.
Rajasekar, categorised as a ‘B category’ history-sheeter by the Sholavaram police, was taken by the Kodungaiyur police for questioning on June 12, in connection with a jewellery theft case. The same evening, he reportedly collapsed and died. While the police state that he died due to health issues, his family allege that he died after police beat him.
On June 14, Rajasekar’s mother Usha Rani approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), who later directed the Chennai police commissioner to submit a report within four weeks. Meanwhile, theInspector of the Kodungaiyur station, George Miller Ponraj; Sub Inspector Kanniyappan; head constables Jayasekhar and Manivannan; and Grade I police constable Sathiyamoorthy, were arrested and a case under Section 176(1)(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deals with custodial death, has been registered by the MKB Nagar police.