Chennai, 16 July  

"Skull damage, head and neck injuries, 7 cm injury on the lower part of the left chest," thus goes the narration by main Opposition DMK's official organ "Murasoli," on the injuries listed in the autopsy report of a remand prisoner, S Sabari Varman, who was allegedly beaten to death in the Nagercoil district prison.

AIADMK's IT Wing slammed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on the issue and asked him to "open his mouth." In a statement, it asked: "What is the answer to the tears of the family members of Sabari Varman who was brutally murdered in your regime in the prison. Open your mouth, chief minister."

Mocking Vijay as "reel chief minister," the AIADMK said that before assuming power, he "thundered demands for justice" over custodial death cases. "Yet why do you now remain silent and tight-lipped about the custodial deaths that continue unabated in your own regime," the party asked.

Even if the government changes, the spectacle has not and hence, the AIADMK said it was now asking what it had asked during the previous DMK regime. It was "justice must be done." The AIADMK also posted a video clip showing Vijay, holding a placard seeking justice in a custody death issue during the DMK regime.

The DMK daily claimed that since CM Vijay, who holds the Home portfolio, is always on "silent mode," murders have now begun occurring even inside prisons. It alleged a barrage of murders everyday under the 'Thooya Sakthi' (pure, honest power) regime.

The TVK had all along been claiming to be a pure power. It had been targeting the DMK, the main opposition, by alleging that it is an "evil power".

In its editorial on Thursday, 'Murasoli' said though Vijay had claimed after taking his oath that he would not allow any wrongdoing, it actually became maximised from that exact moment. Especially, the highest number of lapses and wrongdoings are happening right in his Home Department.

Alleging that Sabari Varman, a person with disabilities was murdered, the DMK claimed that it is "a striking example" to illustrate that governance is under nobody's control under the TVK regime.

Sabari Varman belonged to the Eethangaadu area, which comes under the Thenthamaraikulam police station jurisdiction in the Kanniyakumari district. The 35-year-old was a differently-abled person.

The DMK mouthpiece alleged: "Because he did not pay a bribe (mamool) to the Senthamaraikulam police station, they filed a false case against him claiming he was selling gutkha."

On 9 July, he was arrested and lodged in the Nagercoil sub-jail and days ago, he was declared "brought dead" by doctors at the Kanniyakumari Government Medical College and Hospital in Aasaripallam. Suspecting foul play in his death, his relatives staged a protest.

The autopsy report confirmed that Sabari Varman was beaten to death inside the prison.

"Since those involved were uniformed personnel and as it was a custodial death, the TVK government tried to hide the issue as it would bring a bad name to the government." However, Leader of Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin issued a statement taking a strong position against the crime.

The DMK legal wing demanded registration of a murder case against those involved and made it clear that the party would seek CBI probe if its demand was not complied with. The DMK's such a tough stand pushed the TVK government to a corner and that was why three prison staff were arrested, it claimed.

Subsequently, eight inmates of the prison were also arrested in connection with the murder.

In case Udhayanidhi and the DMK legal team had not taken up the issue, the matter would have been buried as "unnatural death". The daily listed post mortem findings including "injury in 6 places" on the right hand, injuries on the right and left legs and knees and 7 cm injury on the lower part of the left chest.

Also, narrated was injuries in "two places on the head," skull damage and severe injuries on the back of the neck and the head. The prisoner was beaten to death by the prison staff, the DMK daily claimed and alleged that Vijay's regime stood out as an example of how a government should not be run.