When justice fails the people
He was jailed for stealing some rice and two cans of sardines. And now he lies buried, his body telling tales of some sort of violence that came before his death while the police regale all who would hear with tales of suicide.
Scott Ng, FMT
The case of 22-year-old Shashikumar Selvam truly is a sad one. The young man was jailed 10 years for a petty crime. That is disproportionate enough to make us despair over the state of justice in this country. What is really shocking, though, is that he was jailed for stealing some rice and two cans of sardines. And now he lies buried, his body telling tales of some sort of violence that came before his death while the police regale all who would hear with tales of suicide.
I’m not condoning the act of thievery, but 10 years is an insane amount of time for jailing someone over a matter of rice and sardines, while we have rapists, murderers and corrupt individuals who walk free in broad daylight without a care in the world. We even let some of these rapists marry their victims, for goodness’ sake.
And now, this young man’s grandmother must represent him in her quest for justice, something that was denied her grandson once and must not be denied him again now that he rests six feet underground. Madam Sushilarani believes her grandson did not commit suicide in Kluang prison, but that there were heinous, inhuman acts behind his death, acts that could only have been committed by the most deplorable, malformed, disgusting dregs of mankind. Nevertheless, such acts have happened before to countless inmates under the loving, tender care of our police and prison officials.
Madam Sushilarani, who was allowed to view her grandson’s body only after much protest, found bruises on the body plus a toenail that looked like it was forcibly removed. Incredibly, the police claimed Shashikumar had hanged himself in his cell with his trousers — a cell too high for him to reach the ceiling and a pair of trousers too short to serve as a noose.
