Can’t cop out of police brutality. 

By Aiden Jewelle Gonzales

In news that shook the state of Tamil Nadu and reverberated around the nation, police officers brutally tortured, sexually assaulted, and eventually killed two men in their custody, identified as 59-year-old J Jeyaraj and his son, 31-year-old Bennicks Immanuel. Their supposed crime? Closing their mobile phone shop 15 minutes later than the 9pm COVID-inspired curfew. The news sparked widespread protest throughout India against institutionalised police brutality and the failure of the justice system, with multiple victims coming forward to allege abuse at the hands of the same five police officers, who have now been charged with murder.

Coming directly in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police officers in the U.S., the age-old question is now more relevant than ever: quis custodiet ipsos custodies; who watches the watchmen? Are the institutions we put in power now beyond our control, and what can we do to enact real change?

Photo from The Indian Express