In the dark corners of police stations in Tamil Nad, justice often dies before it is delivered. The recent death of Ajith Kumara, a 27 -year -old temple guard in Sivaganze, should shake every citizen. Tragically, however, his case is no exception. It is part of a grim pattern.
Between 2021 and 2025 there were a number of custody deaths. Vignesh, a 25 -year -old man who was detained in Chennai in 2022, died in a few hours and revealed more injuries. In 2024, Raja, Dalit Cook from Villupuram died in police custody after a small accusation of theft; His three children and his wife are still waiting for compensation. The thirty -year -old authorickshaw in Tiruch died of injury in 2023 in suspicious circumstances. And now, Ajith, who revealed 44 shots, cigarette burns and forced exposure to narcotics. His last words for his mother chased, “I didn’t steal.”
Normalizing the use of force
These are not aberrations. There are the results of a system that has a normalized power over justice. But beyond the moral horror lies other basic concerns – we fail citizens and police forces by investing in the enforcement of law without investing in reform.
The Tamil government allows thousands of Cror to the police every year. But how many of this goes into well -being, training and psychological care? The disproportionate amount is converted into hardware, such as vehicles, tracking systems, and a crowd control, while the human element is left neglected. We will equip officers of Latchis and Legal Books, but we deny them emotional tools to deal with stress, trauma and moral ambiguity. The shelf cannot be just about checking. It must be about conscience.
Reform
The reasonable redistribution of the police budget has long been delayed. Even 5% of the current annual expenditures, redirected to the establishment of units on mental health at the district level, compulsory quarterly counseling and repeating courses of sensitization, would result in exponentially better results-for retained officers, officers and public confidence. We pour money into deterrence, but ignore the cost of dysfunction.
SIVAGAGA CUSTODIAL: Cool murder Ajith Kumar | Focus Tamil Nadu
It is time to institutionalize mental wellness in the framework of law enforcement, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. Officers are people. In the morning, cases of domestic abuse, gang violence in the afternoon and politically full complaints at night. Without psychological support, this pressure metastasis; Burnout becomes brutality. The accommodation baton is not punished alone, often expresses accumulated trauma.
Parals, police training needs transformation. The curriculum designed before liberalization cannot deal with the needs of modern India. Ethics, jurisprudence in the field of human rights, methods of investigation focused on trauma and police models in the community should be core, not cosmetic.
In addition, our architecture of criminal judiciary must include enforceable liability. It is not enough to suspend several constables after each tragedy.
What Tamil Nadu and India generally need legislative clarity; Comprehensive law on anti -connections of violence with mechanisms of investigation of time -bound, mandatory video documentation documentation and engagement.
The technology must serve as a guarantee and not to be a quiet viewer. CCTV cameras in areas where people are in custody should be functional, resistant to handling and subject to real -time audits. Digital systems can help, but only if we are willing to face the unpleasant truths they reveal.
A new way to enforce law
In the end, we must again introduce a police uniform – not as a symbol of unsuccessful authority, but services, restrictions and human responsibility. The death of Ajith Kumara, as well as the death of Vignesh, Raja and many others, tells us that much without empathy is forcibly by another name.
In order to break this cycle, we must invest not only in the police, but also in emotional, ethical and structural reforms of law enforcement. Until then, every death in custody will not only mean the end of one life, but also the failure of the moral treaty of the state with its people.
Don’t wait for the next young man to shout “I didn’t steal” before you die in silence. Time for justice is not a post mortem; It’s politics and now it is.
Apsara Reddy is an official spokesperson, all of the India predat of Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
Published – 10 July 2025 12:08
