Latest news with #Vignesh
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
End custodial brutality, begin criminal justice reform
In the dark corners of police stations in Tamil Nadu, justice often dies before it is delivered. The recent custodial death of Ajith Kumar, a 27-year-old temple guard in Sivaganga, should shake the conscience of every citizen. But, tragically, his case is not an exception. It is part of a grim pattern. Between 2021 and 2025, there have been a series of custodial deaths. Vignesh, a 25-year-old, who was detained in Chennai in 2022, died within hours, with his autopsy revealing multiple injuries. In 2024, Raja, a Dalit cook from Villupuram died in police custody after a petty theft allegation; his three children and wife still await compensation. A 30-year-old autorickshaw driver in Tiruchi died of injuries in 2023 under suspicious circumstances. And now, Ajith, whose autopsy revealed 44 wounds, cigarette burns, and forced exposure to narcotics. His last words to his mother were haunting: 'I didn't steal.' A normalisation of the use of force These are not aberrations. They are the outcomes of a system that has normalised force over fairness. But beyond the moral horror lies another fundamental concern — we are failing citizens and the police force by investing in enforcement without investing in reform. Each year, the Tamil Nadu government allocates thousands of crores towards policing. Yet how much of this goes into welfare, training and psychological care? A disproportionate amount is funnelled into hardware such as vehicles, surveillance systems, and crowd-control gear while the human element is left neglected. We equip officers with lathis and law books, but deny them the emotional tools to deal with stress, trauma and moral ambiguity. Policing cannot merely be about control. It must be about conscience. Reforms to undertake A sensible reallocation of the policing budget is long overdue. Even 5% of the current annual spend, redirected toward setting up district-level mental health units, mandatory quarterly counselling, and refresher sensitisation courses, would result in exponentially better outcomes — for detainees, for officers, and for public trust. We pour money into deterrence, but ignore the cost of dysfunction. It is time to institutionalise mental wellness within law enforcement, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. Officers are human. They deal with domestic abuse cases in the morning, gang violence by afternoon, and politically fraught complaints by night. Without psychological support, that pressure metastasises; burnout becomes brutality. The baton does not punish alone, it often expresses accumulated trauma. Parallelly, police training needs transformation. A curriculum designed in the pre-liberalisation era cannot address the needs of modern India. Ethics, human rights jurisprudence, trauma-informed investigation methods and community policing models should be at the core, and not cosmetic. Moreover, our criminal justice architecture must include enforceable accountability. It is not enough to suspend a few constables after every tragedy. What Tamil Nadu, and India at large, needs is legislative clarity; a comprehensive anti-custodial violence law with time-bound investigation mechanisms, mandatory video documentation of interrogations, and civil society involvement in oversight. Technology must serve as a safeguard, and not be a silent spectator. CCTV cameras in areas where people are in custody should be operational, tamper-proof, and subject to real-time audits. Digital systems can help, but only if we are willing to confront the uncomfortable truths that they reveal. A new path for law enforcement Finally, we must reimagine the police uniform — not as a symbol of unyielding authority, but of service, restraint, and human responsibility. Ajith Kumar's death, like those of Vignesh, Raja, and so many others, tells us that power without empathy is violence by another name. To break this cycle, we must invest not just in policing but also in the emotional, ethical, and structural reform of law enforcement. Until then, every custodial death will not just mark the end of one life but also the failure of the state's moral contract with its people. Let us not wait for the next young man to cry out 'I didn't steal' before dying in silence. The time for justice is not post-mortem; it is policy, and it is now. Apsara Reddy is official spokesperson, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
New Indian Express
7 days ago
- New Indian Express
Gang that shipped 2,600 TN SIM cards to Cambodia held
CHENNAI: A complaint filed a year ago by an alert 21-year-old woman in Villupuram, who grew suspicious about her details being misused for illicit activities, has led to the CB-CID uncovering a gang that collected around 2,600 SIM cards from gullible people across Tamil Nadu and smuggled it to Cambodia for use in cyber scam compounds. A few weeks ago, the agency arrested two key accused in the case, Vignesh and Ranganathan, who had allegedly smuggled the SIM cards to Cambodia. Incidentally, the duo is also under the CB-CID's scanner for sending individuals to work in the scam compounds in Laos and Cambodia, where they are used for cyber crimes, and collecting commission for it, sources said. CB-CID is the designated agency for investigating the cyber 'slavery' cases where many job-seekers from Tamil Nadu are lured to cyber scam compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. These job-seekers are then used for carrying out 'digital arrest', trading app, and other types of cyber scams on fellow Indians using SIM cards smuggled from India, investigators said. The case originated in Vikravandi in Villupuram district in June 2024, when the 21-year-old English graduate working in a sweet shop was approached by Raj, Kiruba, Anbarasan, Sathishkumar and Tamilselvan for procuring SIM cards for starting a 'tele-calling' business. When she agreed to help, they took her to a footwear shop where her biometrics and photograph were taken. The complainant said that she was requested to come to that place multiple times and 10 SIM cards were totally procured in her name. Later, she heard from some relatives that the men had procured multiple SIM cards from many people in a similar manner and sold it to one Sathiyamoorthy for a profit.
NDTV
14-06-2025
- NDTV
Flight Attendant, Influencer, Family's Heartbeat: 26-Year-Old Who Died In Crash
She was the heartbeat of her house and very popular on social media too, with over 73,000 followers on Instagram. The 26-year-old was a flight attendant with Air India and her life, which had already taken off and was cruising at a high altitude, was about to soar even higher with a wedding planned for next year. Then the Air India flight AI-171 crashed and exploded in a fireball in Ahmedabad on Thursday, taking her life and dreams - and her family's heartbeat - with it. Relatives remembered Roshni Songhare, who lived with her younger brother Vignesh and her parents Rajendra and Shobha on Rajaji Path in Dombivli near Mumbai, as bright and determined. She pursued a flight attendant course, began her career with another airline and later joined Air India. She loved international assignments and was excited when she left home to be part of the 12-member crew, including two pilots, on AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London, relatives recalled. The family was also happy because she had met an officer in the merchant navy through a family acquaintance and was set to be engaged to him later this year. "She was the heartbeat of this home. We were getting her engaged in November and married in March," a close relative was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "She was so happy to be flying again. We were all looking forward to her wedding. Everything was going right," said her uncle Praveen Sukhdere.. After finding out about the crash, family members tried to contact her and her father and brother rushed to Ahmedabad when they couldn't get through. Then the news broke that the flight, which had 242 people on board, had only one survivor - a passenger who managed to get out of an emergency exit just before the plane caught fire.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Happy 11th
One of the most adored couples in the South, Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan never fail to shell couple the lovebirds completed 11 years of marital bliss, the filmmaker took to his official Instagram handle and dropped a throwback video from one of their family clip showed Vignesh riding a bicycle with Nayanthara and their two boys - Uyir and Ulag enjoying themselves in the sidecar. The clip captured a perfect family moment of the the universe for a life filled with love, Vignesh wrote in the caption, 'Neeyum by God & the beautiful universe to have a life that's filled with only love #HappyWeddingAnniversary my Thangamey @nayanthara 11 years of togetherness.'Nayanthara also used social media to wish her husband on their wedding anniversary. Treating the netizens with a string of pictures of the two with their little munchkins, the stunner wrote on her IG, 'May you often wonder who loves the other more and may you never find the answer.' 'Don't know how else to describe are everything my soul has ever two of us to Four of have asked for showed me what LOVE should be like! Happy Anniversary you, Always & Forever,' she couple met on the set of the 2015 film 'Naanum Rowdy Dhaan' directed by Vignesh.
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Nayanthara turns poet, wishes Vignesh Shivan on wedding anniversary with cute pics: 'You're everything my soul wanted'
Actor Nayanthara and film director Vignesh Shivan clocked their third wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Taking to Instagram, Nayanthara posted a carousel of photos as she wished Vignesh Shivan with a beautiful poem. (Also Read | Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan's twins vibe to Jr NTR, Janhvi Kapoor's Chuttamalle) In the pictures, Nayanthara and Vignesh sat at a coffee shop as they shared conversations and laughter. In a photo, Vignesh was seen resting his head on Nayanthara's shoulder. They also closed their eyes as they touched their foreheads. Nayanthara also shared candid solo photos of herself and Vignesh. Their sons Uyir and Ulag also joined them for pictures. In the photos, Nayanthara was seen in a white top, matching pants and a green blazer. Vignesh opted for a cream T-shirt and shorts. Uyir and Ulag were seen in matching outfits--blue and white sweater and black pants. Sharing the photos, Nayanthara captioned it, "May you often wonder Who loves the other more, and may you Never find the answer. Don't know how else to describe us (red heart emoji). You are everything my soul has ever wanted (halo face emoji). From two of us to four of us. Couldn't have asked for more (halo face and nazar amulet emojis). You showed me what LOVE should be like!" A post shared by N A Y A N T H A R A (@nayanthara) "Happy Anniversary, partner (red heart emojis). Love you, always & forever (infinity, halo face, nazar amulet, red heart and kissing face emojis)," concluded her note. Vignesh and Nayanthara tied the knot in June 2022. In October the same year, they announced the birth of twin sons--Uyir and Ulag through surrogacy. Nayanthara was last seen in Test, a thriller co-starring R. Madhavan and Siddharth. The project, helmed by Sashikanth, was released on OTT on April 4. Fans will see Nayanthara in the upcoming action drama Mega157, which stars Chiranjeevi. Directed by Anil Ravipudi the film is set for release during Sankranti 2026. Nayanthara also has Rakkayie, a period-action drama directed by Senthil Nallasamy. She has also joined the cast of Mahesh Narayanan's much-anticipated Malayalam film, tentatively titled MMMN. This project will also feature Mohanlal and Mammootty. Nayanthara will also be part of the Malayalam movie Dear Students with Nivin Pauly. Dear Students is directed by debutants Sandeep Kumar and George Philip.
