Custodial death: Vinayakan was tortured

Thrissur: A friend of the Dalit youth Vinayakan, who committed suicide after being allegedly tortured by Pavaratty police in custody last month, has told CBCID officers investigating the case that he had witnessed the cops brutally torturing Vinayak in the station. Sarath of Engandiyur, who was taken into custody along with Vinayakan by the police on July 17, told the CBCID officials led by DySP Firoz M. Shafique that the cops in the station tried to pull out Vinayakan’s hair and harassed him brutally. Sarath’s statement was recorded on Wednesday at Engandiyur. The local police who were earlier probing the complaint on custodial death had not collected the statement of Sarath.

“We spoke to Sarath after his statement was recorded and came to know that he has given such a statement citing police torture in custody,” INTUC Engadiyur unit president C.S. Narayanan told DC. Earlier, local police were of the opinion that the aberrations and contusions on the dead body as mentioned in the post mortem report were not proof for the alleged custodial torture. The team will collect the statement of Vinayakan’s father Krishnankutty on Saturday. Vinayakan, 19, who worked in a saloon, and Sarath, a coconut climber, were picked up on July 17 by policemen in civil dress from Madhukara in Pavaratty. Vinayakan was then speaking to his girlfriend on the road.

Spotting their hair style and earrings, the cops asked the documents of their bike. As they could not produce the documents, the cops beat them up and then took them to the police station. The duo was allegedly tortured severely by the cops in
the station. After his release in custody the same day, Vinayakan committed suicide by hanging at his home the next day allegedly due to the mental and physical torture meted out to him by the cops.