; ; ;
THOOTHUKUDI: “My family members are worried about my safety,” said woman head constable R Revathi, who testified against her colleagues in the custodial death case of trader P Jeyaraj (60) and his son J Beniks (31), while talking about the events that spiralled out after she spoke the truth to power.
In an exclusive interview to TNIE a day after the verdict was delivered, Revathi shares her account of what transpired inside the Sathankulam police station on the fateful day of June 19, 2020, and her decision to bring the truth to light, which she said was obvious, as “everyone is equal before the law”.
Revathi was the sentry at the Sathankulam station on the day of the incident. “I have never witnessed such cruelty,” said Revathi, a policewoman for 21 years. For the police to mete out extreme brutality to the victims, the moment that lit the fuse was anything but wrongdoing.
“The police excess began after Beniks stopped constable Muthuraj from attacking his father, and the shirt button of the constable fell off in the action,” she said. After seeing a bleeding Beniks and Jeyaraj inside the station, Revathi attempted to stop the aggressive policemen from beating the two, but the personnel did not. “Beniks could not even walk a step, but one of the sub-inspectors asked him to clean the bloodstained floor using his own vest,” she said.
“If I hadn’t revealed the truth, the court would have definitely found it out, and I would have also been found guilty,” she said. “...
The DMK president blamed the AIADMK leader for trying to scuttle Ungaludan Stalin initiative when it was introduced, by filing a petition in the court against it DMK president and Chief Minister M....