Duke Jeyaraj
India Today reported the horrific alleged murder of Jayaraj and Fenix this way:
Jayaraj (59) and his son Fenix Emmanuel (31) ran a mobile shop in Tuticorin. On June 19, around 8:15 pm Jayaraj was pulled up by the Sathankulam police officials who were on patrol. They upbraided him for exceeding the curfew by 15 minutes. On Saturday, Jayaraj was taken in by the police and soon after his son Fenix was arrested too when he went to enquire about his father’s arrest.
The two of them were booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (use of force to deter public servant from duty) 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), and 506(2) (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
In custody, they were allegedly tortured. They were later released and taken to a hospital where a doctor declared them fit despite eyewitnesses reporting that they beaten up and still bleeding.
The Sathankulam police then approached magistrate B Saravanan for the remand of Jayaraj and Fenix. The magistrate allegedly gave the remand order without physically seeing the father-son duo, which is required to ascertain if detainees are injured.
Fenix’s lawyer who was there in the station when the police officials hit the father-son duo had a horrifying tale to share.
Advocate S Manimaran, an eyewitness to the brutality said, “We were standing out and we were seeing the whole incident from outside through a glass gate. Fenix and his father were beaten. In the morning there was blood all over the place where they were sitting.”
He added that Fenix was beaten so brutally, his flesh was ripped off.
He said, “I gave them four clothes to change. We had laid down a blanket in the seat of the car when we went to pick them up, Fenix had lost a lot of flesh on his back. He was a well-built man. The car driver was in tears seeing their state. The spot where Fenix sat was covered with blood, the place where Jayaraj was sitting was also all blood. The blankets are still with us. They were beaten to death.”
Other eyewitnesses have also claimed that Jayaraj and Fenix were bleeding from their rectum and were allegedly sodomised while in prison.
A Chennai-based news site The Federal has quoted eyewitnesses as saying that Jayaraj and his son Fenix were allegedly sodomised in police custody.
Quoting friends and family, The Federal reported that when the father-son duo was released from jail, they were found profusely bleeding from their rectum.
“Between 7 am and 12 pm on June 20, the father and son had changed at least seven lungies (waistcloth) each as they had become wet due to blood oozing from their rectums,” The Federal quoted a friend of Fenix as saying.
The friend also said that the father-son duo came out of prison in a dishevelled state with torn and bloodied clothes.
He added that they complained of severe rectum pain and kept bleeding from their rectum.
Friends of Fenix, who were present in the police station when the police rounded them up, told the news outlet that for three hours, they heard only the screams and cries of Jayaraj and Fenix.
“Throughout the night, the duo cried for help and people residing about 500 meters away from the station could hear that,” the eyewitness reportedly said.
Jayaraj and his son were later produced before the magistrate and the duo was sent to Kovilpatti sub-jail. That evening, both the father and son were taken to the Kovilpatti government hospital. Fenix died on Monday evening and the following morning Jayaraj succumbed to respiratory illness.
(articles by India Today).
What should be our response to this alleged unspeakable crime?
First, we must MOURN. Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:15 this: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. When was the last time you wept? And for what did you weep?
Second, we must REGISTER OUR PROTEST. The least we can do is to register protest against such alleged horrific crimes via media such as change.org (a place to register online petitions). God’s complaint against Jerusalem was this: “They have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper and they do not defend the rights of the needy (Jer. 5:28). As believers we are spiritual Israel and that accusation can be leveled against us as well!
Third, we must learn BIBLE LESSONS FROM THIS TRADEGY.
The charge of DISPROPORTIONATE PUNISHMENT can be justifiably leveled against the policemen involved. However, when God sends those who stubbornly and finally reject Jesus having chosen Satan and Sin instead, into ever-burning hell of torment, he would be absolutely just. Let me explain by recalling Psalm 51. When David sinned with Bathsheba, he wrote this: Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment (Psa. 51:4).
We would have thought David sinned primarily against Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband and Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahitophel (who was David’s trusted counselor) when he committed adultery cum murder in 2 Samuel 11. But the Bible says, David’s sin was against the God of Heaven and Him alone! So, every sin that is committed is a sin against an eternal God who wants to lavish us with his eternal love! And the punishment for such a sin against the eternal God is everlasting torment, justifiably!
But God does not want anyone to go into the eternal torment of hell – he wants to save us instead (2 Peter 3:9). So, that is why Jesus was sent into this world (John 3:16). The consequences of our sins are this: a living hell here and now (2 Sam. 13) and a literal hell thereafter (Rev. 21:7-8). But Jesus took that upon himself as he hung on the Cross (Gal. 2:20). Now, if we turn from sin (Luke 13:1-5) and come to him in faith (John 1:12), our lives will be meaningful and joyous!
After having known Jesus as Savior you must be a bold witness for him. A BBC report on the above incident goes this way: The magistrate’s report included eyewitness testimony by the female constable at the police station in Sathankulam – and the court has asked district officials to ensure her safety. This female constable could have chosen to be mum about what she saw. But she boldly spoke up so that Jayaraj and Felix would get justice. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we can be “bold witnesses” and “gutsy witnesses” for Jesus (Acts 1:8). Stephen was one! This bold witness was a martyr for Jesus! Would you boldly defend the uniqueness of Jesus in a pluralistic world? Would you clearly state that homosexuality is a sin against God in a world which wants to normalize it?
(Duke Jeyaraj is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission. This is a reader supported Indian ministry. Find out more at http://www.dukev.org).
