Judge helps transgender's mom get death certificate

Chennai: Remember transgender Thara who died in mysterious circumstances due to burn injuries inside the Pondy Bazaar police station in November 2016? While the police claimed she committed self-immolation, her family as well as the several transgender friends who had thronged the station to demonstrate after that gruesome incident, alleged custodial murder.

The 38-year-old transgender had gone to the station to get back the key of her scooter which had been snatched by the police after catching her riding on the wrong side of the road. With the cops refusing to return the bike key, Thara refused to budge from the station and was seen by eyewitnesses pacing up and down inside the station in an agitated mood. Next she was seen screaming in flames. 

Taken to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital with extensive burns, she died the following morning. The police said Thara committed suicide but her family and friends alleged that she was killed by the cops in the station. 

To add to the misery of the family, they could not get Thara’s death certificate despite making several petitions and pleading before many officials after registering the death with the Corporation of Chen-nai on November 10 (2016), the day after the death. The death certificate was necessary for claiming Thara's dues from the banks and other places. 

"We knocked on several doors but only got abuse and rebuke. Finally, on hearing about her compassion, we approached Judge I. Jayanthi of the district legal aid services authority today and in less than two hours, she got us the death certificate”, said Thara’s mother Manna Bai, adding: “Now we will initiate further action on getting justice for my daughter’s death”.

Asked about her humane gesture that went beyond mere adherence to the law books, court arguments and case diaries, Judge Jayanthi told DC: “I believe in delivering justice to the victims as quickly as possible. That's why we are here for, to provide relief to the affected when they come to us as the last resort. I phoned the concerned divisional office of the Corporation and had them send me the death certificate on my whatsup within two hours. I took the print outs and gave the family”.

This is not the first time Judge Jayanthi hit the headlines for doing something out of the book to help the litigant poor. In September last year, she took an elderly couple in an autorickshaw to the TN slum clearance board to get them a plot allotment order that the officials dodged issuing for over 20 years.