Ajith never made it to a formal police station. As per the report of The News Minute, he was not produced before a magistrate. No official FIR named him an accused. And yet, he was driven across multiple remote locations overnight, tortured in front of his brother, and eventually died from what forensic experts called an “extremely painful” death caused by a combination of pain shock and hypovolemic shock, that is, severe blood loss.

A Catalogue of Torture: What the post-mortem revealed

The post-mortem conducted at Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, began at 5:45 PM on June 29 and lasted nearly four hours. The report, accessed by The News Minute, recorded 44 visible injuries, many of them deep tissue wounds with the depth extending into the underlying muscle. Notably, these injuries were clustered across his arms, legs, chest, and abdomen.

Dr. Dekal Varadharajulu, forensic surgeon and Head of the Forensic Department at Meenakshi Medical College, reviewed the findings and explained that overlapping injuries masked the true count, with some areas showing multiple contusions layered over each other. For instance, injuries numbered 13 to 18 alone were said to include at least 15 separate blows. One single injury at the end of the report included five distinct wounds.

“This kind of trauma is consistent with repeated, targeted beatings using blunt instruments like lathis or wooden sticks,” he said. “Each injury would have bled. Taken together, the internal haemorrhaging would have caused his blood volume to plummet below survivable levels,” he added, while speaking to The News Minute.

A second government forensic expert confirmed that while none of the injuries were independently fatal, their cumulative impact would have caused death in a very short span of time, especially due to neurogenic or pain shock, caused by unbearable physical trauma.

What was the allegation?

The complaint that led to Ajith’s detention was alarmingly flimsy. Two women. Sivakami and her daughter Nikita, reported that 10 sovereigns of gold had gone missing from their car parked outside the temple. Ajith, who had only helped them park the vehicle, had no access to the car’s interior and did not drive it himself. He had briefly handed over the keys to another person before returning them.

Even so, Ajith and four other temple workers were detained by the Thiruppuvanam police for questioning. Though initially released, a “special team” of six policemen later picked them up again and began a night-long torture session across several secluded locations in and around Thiruppuvanam.

“He Collapsed in Front of Me”: The brother’s testimony

At around 4 am on June 28, Naveen Kumar, Ajith’s younger brother, was also picked up by the same special team. Naveen’s sworn statement to the Judicial Magistrate paints a harrowing picture of the ordeal. He recounted that Ajith was tied up and tortured in three locations:

• Near the Thiruppuvanam Veterinary Hospital
• Behind the Madapuram school hostel
• Near a lake behind the local bus depot

Under unbearable duress, Ajith falsely confessed that he knew where the missing gold was hidden. But when police took him to the spot, he broke down and admitted that he had lied—just to stop the beatings.

“He collapsed soon after,” Naveen told the magistrate, as per the TNM report, while adding that “They didn’t take us to a police station. They just drove us around all night, tying my brother’s hands and hitting me to make him confess”.

Ajith was taken to a private hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

High Court Slams Police: “Even a murderer would not inflict such injuries”

When the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court reviewed the preliminary autopsy report on July 1, the reaction was damning. “Even an ordinary murderer would not have caused these many injuries,” observed Justices SM Subramaniam and AD Maria Clete. The Bench acknowledged that the state had “conceded the custodial death” and flagged the high risk of evidence tampering, especially of CCTV footage, by local police, as per the report of The Hindu.

Declaring the local police as “unsafe custodians”, the court ordered that all material evidence be placed under independent judicial custody. A judicial inquiry was also ordered under District Judge S. John Sundarlal Suresh, with findings due by July 8.

Arrests, revisions, and CBI transfer

Following public outrage and judicial scrutiny, five policemen—Raja, Anand, Sankaramanikandan, Praphu Ganesan, and Kannan—were arrested under Section 196(2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which deals with custodial death, as reported by India Today.

Superintendent of Police Ashish Rawat was placed on compulsory wait, and DSP Shanumugasundaram of Manamadurai was suspended. Notably, the initial FIR, which absurdly claimed that Ajith “suffered a seizure while escaping custody”, was officially revised.

Under growing public pressure, Chief Minister MK Stalin transferred the investigation to the CBI. On July 2, Cooperation Minister KR Periyakaruppan visited Ajith’s family, handing over a technician job appointment letter to Naveen Kumar and a three-cent land patta and ₹5 lakh compensation to their mother Malathi.

Video evidence and witness intimidation

A shocking video showing Ajith being beaten with a stick while kneeling on the ground surfaced soon after his death. The footage was recorded by M Sakthiswaran, a 34-year-old temple worker from Madapuram, who later submitted it to the authorities.

In a letter dated July 2 to the DGP, Sakthiswaran claimed that he and other eyewitnesses were facing serious threats to their lives, particularly from S Raja, one of the accused officers. “We feel guilty for not protecting Ajith. I’m unable to sleep at night,” he wrote, requesting armed protection for himself and other witnesses in the Mayipuram area, according to the TNM report.

Not an Isolated Case: Another video, another assault

Even as the state was grappling with outrage over Ajith’s murder, another case of police brutality surfaced from Kacharapalayam police station in Kallakurichi district. A video showed a youth named Vicky being beaten inside the station on June 6.

The sequence began when Vicky’s aunt Malar approached police after her husband, Jayapal, returned from Dubai in deteriorated health. When she was ignored, Vicky confronted the police, only to be assaulted, as captured on video. Jayapal later died in hospital, as reported in The Hindu Tamil.

A pattern of brutality, a wall of impunity

Ajith Kumar’s death marks the 24^th custodial death in Tamil Nadu since the DMK came to power in 2021, according to civil society groups. Official data, however, remain lower- 13 deaths between 2020 and 2023, according to a response in the Lok Sabha, as reported by India Today.

But this is part of a national crisis. Between 2016 and 2022, Tamil Nadu recorded 490 custodial deaths, the highest in the South. Across India, 11,656 deaths in police or judicial custody were reported in the same period.

Despite this, not a single police officer in India was convicted for custodial death between 2017 and 2022, as per the report. Of 345 judicial inquiries, only 123 arrests and 79 chargesheets followed—but zero convictions.

Further, Scheduled Castes remain disproportionately affected. As of December 31, 2022, 38.5% of detenues in Tamil Nadu were SC, even though they represent just 20% of the population.

A colonial legacy, a reform deferred

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram called Ajith’s death the latest reminder of India’s colonial policing legacy. “The police are still using third-degree methods inherited from British rule,” he told India Today TV. “This is not about DMK or AIADMK. This is a national crisis”, Chidambaram added.

He called for systemic training in sensitivity and accountability, beginning from constables to DGPs, and urged the Centre to mandate nationwide police reforms.

Conclusion: A brutal system on autopilot

Ajith Kumar’s death is not just an aberration, rather it is a chilling reminder that police brutality in India operates without oversight, without consequence, and often without shame. Until the legal system guarantees institutional accountability, ensures protection for witnesses, and criminalises custodial torture, the cycle of violence and impunity will continue. Justice in Ajith’s case, if it comes at all, will only matter if it helps break that cycle.

Related:

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Bombay High Court orders FIR in Somnath Suryawanshi custodial death case, slams police for delay and bias

The post “Even a Murderer Wouldn’t Do This”: Ajith Kumar’s custodial death and Tamil Nadu’s shameful culture of impunity appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to court proceedings before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete expressed severe displeasure with the police’s conduct and questioned the very legality of Ajith Kumar’s detention. The police allegedly took Ajith Kumar to the temple cattle shed and other secluded areas — avoiding CCTV surveillance — and beat him black and blue with plastic pipes and iron rods. He was later brought to the police station and eventually declared dead. This case of custodial torture has sparked outrage in Tamil Nadu and beyond.

Human rights lawyer Henri Tiphagne submitted video evidence allegedly showing Ajith being beaten by police officers inside Thiruppuvanam police station. The footage, captured by a temple employee named Sakthiswaran, was described by the court as shocking. In a revelation that shocked the bench, it was stated that the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Sivagangai district was present at the station during the torture.

Madras High Court: “Not even an FIR?”

The State informed the court that a CSR entry was made based on a complaint filed on June 28, 2025, regarding missing jewellery, but no FIR was registered. The court was aghast: “If this was merely a theft investigation, why was the suspect beaten to death?” questioned the bench. Judges demanded to know who authorised the special team that interrogated Ajith and whether such teams were formed on the basis of social media posts.

Adding to the irregularities, the court highlighted that the SP had merely been transferred and not suspended. The judges further criticised the government’s claim that action was being taken, calling it wholly insufficient.

Autopsy reveals 18 injuries, video confirms beating

India Today accessed an exclusive video showing Ajith being thrashed with a lathi by policemen. The autopsy confirmed 18 distinct injuries on his body. As outrage grew, the Tamil Nadu government handed over the case to the CB-CID. However, the court observed that police cannot investigate cases against their own ranks and called for independent accountability.

Tamil Nadu Custodial Death Case || ‘Clincher’ Video Emerges

On Cam: Temple security guard thrashed.

Guard Ajith Kumar was picked up by the police in connection with a gold theft case. In the video, police personnel can be seen beating him with sticks: @dharannniii shares more… pic.twitter.com/vBYL0jpRJE

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 1, 2025

Echoes of Sathankulam: Will Tamil Nadu ever learn?

The events chillingly mirror the Sathankulam case of 2020, where Jeyaraj and his son Bennix were brutally tortured and killed in custody for allegedly violating lockdown timings. In that case, the intervention of the judiciary and public outrage led to the arrest and prosecution of several police officials. The Madras High Court in that case had relied on the testimony of an independent judicial officer to uncover the truth.

Just like in Sathankulam, the initial attempt in Ajith Kumar’s case also seems to involve a cover-up, delayed documentation, and failure to follow legal procedure — from absence of FIR to delayed autopsy to vague accountability. The question haunting observers remains the same: Has anything changed in Tamil Nadu’s policing culture?

India’s international obligations: UNCAT still unratified

Ajith Kumar’s death also reopens the debate on India’s failure to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). Despite signing it in 1997, India has not enacted an anti-torture law. UNCAT mandates prohibition, criminalization, independent investigation, and compensation for custodial torture — all glaringly absent in this case.

In cases like DK Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997), the Supreme Court emphasized that third-degree methods have no place in a democratic setup. Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life and liberty. Yet, as in Ajith Kumar’s case, these rights are repeatedly violated in police custody with impunity.

Widespread custodial deaths: A nationwide pattern of impunity

According to data shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the Lok Sabha, there were 2,152 deaths in judicial custody and 155 in police custody in 2021–22 alone. Despite these alarming figures, disciplinary action was taken in only 21 cases in five years, with zero prosecutions.

The National Human Rights Commission had announced a total compensation of ₹4.53 crore in 137 custodial death cases in 2021–22 — a drop from ₹4.88 crore in the previous year. The data underscores a systemic failure to hold perpetrators accountable. Tamil Nadu, despite its history of custodial violence cases like Sathankulam and now Ajith Kumar, continues to exhibit a culture of impunity reinforced by the lack of anti-torture legislation.

The road ahead

The Madras High Court has ordered the Thirupuvanam Judicial Magistrate and the Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital to file preliminary and post-mortem reports. Witnesses including temple officials and video documenter Shakthiswaran have been summoned. Petitions are pending seeking CBI/SIT probe and compensation to the victim’s family.

Whether the judiciary’s timely intervention will lead to accountability in this case — or fade into routine impunity — remains to be seen. But what is already clear is this: Ajith Kumar’s death is not an isolated tragedy. It is a systemic collapse.

(The author is a law student and a former intern at cjp.org.in.)

Related:

TN custodial death report establishes complicity of police, hospital staff and jail authorities

CBI chargesheet confirms brutal torture on Jeyaraj and Bennicks

Death in Chains: Indian Courts award reparation for deaths in custody, deaths rise alarmingly

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