'My son has got justice at last': Kerala woman on 13-year legal battle

Thiruvananthapuram: “My son has got justice at last,” said 67-year old Prabhavathy reacting to the verdict of the CBI special court today awarding death sentence to two police officers in connection with his custodial death in 2005.

Clad in a white sari, the frail woman, who waged a lonely battle for 13 years to bring the accused to book, was in the court room when the landmark ruling was pronounced by Judge J Nazer.

The Judge sentenced the two serving police officers to death, said to be the first time in the state, while handing out three years imprisonment to three other police personnel in the case related to brutal torture and consequent death of 26-year old Udayakumar, son of Prabhavathy, in police custody.

Udaykumar was taken into custody by Fort police at Thiruvananthapuram on September 25, 2005 in a case of theft and allegedly tortured at a police station. He died of severe injuries and broken veins.

The case took several twists and turns with prime witnesses turning hostile, alleged tampering of evidence and documents being forged.

On a petition of Prabhavathy, the high court had directed the CBI to probe the sensational case.

"No mother should face what I have undergone. This should be a lesson to all" she told reporters outside the CBI court.

"I am happy that the court has delivered the sentence when the Onam festival is just round the corner. They caught my son during the Onam festivities. Before this onam, they have been sentenced. This is a lesson to all," she said.

In this fight for justice, she had stopped going to temples telling herself that she would offer prayers only after the accused were punished, Prabhavathy said.