Udhayanidhi Stalin flays differently abled man’s death in custody

Chennai, Jul 14 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, on Tuesday flayed the death of a differently abled man allegedly in judicial custody in Tamil Nadu’s Nagercoil and demanded appropriate action against the officials concerned. Expressing shock over the death of S Sabari Varman, 35, a disabled shopkeeper from Ethankadu in Nagercoil, in judicial custody following his arrest, Udhayanidhi said the police had claimed that Sabari Varman, who was in good health at the time of his arrest, died due to ill health after the interrogation ended and he was lodged in prison. According to police, Varman, who was arrested by the Thenthamaraikulam police allegedly for selling banned gutka, had died in judicial custody on July 13, in the Nagercoil sub-jail. Referring to the incident, the DMK youth wing secretary said the affected family members who were protesting alleged that there were injuries all over his body and that the police beat him to death without even considering that he was a person with disability. “The Chief Minister (C Joseph Vijay), who holds the police portfolio, must provide a proper answer for this. While the police arrested Sabari Varman claiming that gutka was seized from his shop, they released Arun, a TVK functionary arrested for selling gutka in Erode, on personal bail the very same day,” Udhayanidhi said in a post on ‘X’. “This approach of the police - one law for commoners and another for TVK functionaries - is highly condemnable,” he said. In addition to taking appropriate action against the police officers responsible for Sabari Varman's death, "this government must ensure that justice is served for Sabari Varman's death", Udhayanidhi said in the post. Police said about 200 grams of banned tobacco products were confiscated from Sabari Varman’s shop. He was found unconscious in the prison cell on Monday morning. The prison authorities shifted him to the Kanyakumari Government Medical College Hospital in Asaripallam, where he was declared dead upon arrival, a police official said. His relatives staged a protest outside the hospital and alleged that he was subjected to custodial torture and beaten to death. The police official refuted the charge and claimed that the medical report indicated that he died due to sudden cardiac arrest. The Nesamony Nagar police have registered a case in this regard and are investigating, he added. PTI JSP JSP ADB