In recent times, we have witnessed an exponential increase in incidence of police atrocities all over the country. Catapulted by the June 2020 case of brutal custodial torture and killings of Jayaraj and Bennix in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, this article examines the issue through human rights and legal perspectives. It discusses the gaps in the law and its implementation, and examines ways of addressing the same.
What remains behind the repetition of brazen violence is the continuous and calibrated deployment of different techniques of power that involve the recycling of violence in various forms and continuous yet ad hoc negotiations by the state and the mining company with the affected communities that seek to contain the communities and limit the forms of resistance available to them on a day-to-day basis.
