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The Sivaganga District Court in Tamil Nadu has granted bail to all six police personnel accused in the custodial death of Akash Delison, a 26-year-old Dalit man who died while undergoing treatment after being assaulted in police custody in March this year.
The court directed each of the six accused to pay Rs 20,000 and furnish two sureties within 20 days. The trial has been adjourned to October 9.
The accused are Inspector Dileepan, Sub-Inspector Guhan and Grade-I Constables S Kaleeswaran, P Mahendran, L Deivendran and B Palaniyappan.
Akash, a resident of Krishnarajapuram near Manamadurai in Sivaganga district, was arrested along with another man, Guna, on March 6 for allegedly attacking two men. The police initially claimed that Akash had jumped off a bridge while attempting to escape arrest. His family, however, rejected the police version and alleged that he had been tortured in custody.
Akash died on March 8 while undergoing treatment at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.
In his dying declaration, Akash gave a detailed account of the custodial torture, including on how his legs were broken.
A postmortem examination found more than two dozen injuries on his body, along with multiple internal injuries. His family, demanding justice, refused to accept his body for several days. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court subsequently ordered that the body be cremated after the family continued to refuse to receive it.
Following mounting pressure, the CB-CID took over the investigation on June 18 and later filed a chargesheet against the six police personnel. According to the chargesheet, the police personnel were aware that Akash belonged to the Scheduled Caste Devendrakula Vellalar community and assaulted him with the intention of causing his death.
The six have been charged under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions relating to murder and concealment of evidence.
While granting bail, the court warned that strict action could be taken if the accused failed to cooperate with the investigation. Their bail could also be cancelled if they attempt to abscond, the court said.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.
