A Dailt man in Tamil Nadu has died after he was arrested and reportedly tortured under the custody of police in Tamil Nadu.

Prabhakar, a disabled man belonging to the Adi Dravidar (Scheduled Caste) in Salem’s Karuppur was arrested by police on January 8, over allegations that he was involved in a jewellery theft.

His wife Amshala was also detained. Both were reportedly verbally abused and beaten within their own homes by the police officers, before being taken to a sub-jail.

“Amshala was dragged by her hair,” states a FIR filed by Prabhakar’s brother Sakthivel.

“They beat them again in front of the house. The commotion brought neighbours to the street, who cried out in dismay that a man with disability was being beaten up. They [the police] threatened the crowd saying, ‘We will do worse things if you all don’t keep quiet.’”

Though the family were told that the couple were taken to Karuppur police station, they were unable to find them there or at any court in Salem and Namakkal. The family went on to file a missing persons complaint online on January 10.

Two days later, the family were informed that Amshala had apparently been remanded at the women’s prison in Salem, whilst Prabhakar had been admitted to hospital and later died.

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), shared a video with The News Minute of Amshala detailing the torture that they suffered at the hands of the Tamil Nadu police.

“SI Chandran beat both of us,” she reportedly says. “My husband, who was on the floor, kept saying he cannot walk and denied any role in the theft. Chandran told me ‘Police na kombu nu theriyutha?’ [Don’t you know how powerful we, the police, are?].”

“The police kept demanding ‘accept that you have the jewellery’. Why would I do that? How could my husband walk somewhere to steal jewellery?”

Read the full story by Bharathy Singaravel for The News Minute here.