Humans possess the extraordinary ability to rationalize and weigh whether their actions are right or wrong. When we feel we are right, we are energized. Good thoughts emerge, leading to good deeds, and we elevate ourselves. If we do wrong, we feel guilty. Bad thoughts take over, hindering our personal growth. This is human nature. I always believed that a person who is capable of feeling guilt over a mistake could never commit heinous acts. But the moment arrived when that belief was utterly shattered.
In India, the testimony of Krishnammal, a woman from Alangarathattu village near Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, will leave a deep psychological impact on anyone who hears it. On one hand, humanity believes it can evaluate its actions and cultivate good intentions. On the other hand, Krishnammal's testimony screams out the dark reality that some people, intoxicated by power, are capable of the most inhuman acts. Her life witnessed a brutal convergence of the abuse of power and sheer inhumanity. One cannot fathom the mindset of the police officers who tortured her husband. Their actions remain entirely beyond any justification.
Every word from Krishnammal echoes as the pain-filled cry of a commoner. From the moment they dragged her husband away and seeing his bruised body, to the chilling declaration that his life would end right there in the police station, and then dragging him upstairs to torture him right before her eyes—every single scene shakes the soul. The inhuman words and acts of Ramakrishnan, who was a Sub-Inspector then and a DSP now, stand as a grim reminder of what unimaginable monsters people can become when sitting at the peak of absolute power.
Words cannot describe Krishnammal's desperation as she ran from one hospital to another after her husband died. The police told her—a woman who was forced to become the sole witness to her husband's tragedy in a single day—that he died of a heart attack. It is not hard to comprehend the extreme lengths they went to in order to cover up their crime.
The agony she endured while raising her young children, alongside her decades-long struggle for justice, plunges us into deep thought. At one point, she outright refused the compensation offered by the government. This could have been born from her firm conviction that justice is far more important than money, or perhaps it was the ultimate rejection from a woman shattered by the loss of her husband.
She stands as a living testament to the devastating consequences that unfold when those in power act without a shred of responsibility. Though we want to believe humans possess rationality and a conscience, incidents like these violently challenge that very belief. Fortunately, Krishnammal's relentless battle for justice finally reached its conclusion yesterday, after 25 agonizing years.
Yesterday, April 5, 2025, a Thoothukudi court sentenced nine policemen, including DSP Ramakrishnan, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 each. Ramakrishnan, who was an SI 25 years ago, had since climbed the ranks to become a DSP. Another SI had been promoted to Inspector. The other seven had comfortably completed their police service and were resting at home in their retirement. Today, all nine have been thrown behind bars.
An incident that took place in 1999 remained buried in the courts for 24 years without a single trial. It was finally taken up for hearing by the Thoothukudi 1st Additional Court in 2024, culminating in yesterday's historic verdict.
How could educated, trained officers bring a man in for questioning in a bomb case and brutally murder him right inside the police station? Did guilt not consume them at all? As I stood frozen in shock pondering this, my fellow reporter casually told me he was leaving for a pilgrimage to the hills, asking me to cover his shifts and ensure no news was missed. That was the moment I came to a startling realization myself: the only thing that successfully shields these human monsters from the crushing weight of their own guilt is their religious devotion.