Kochi: Every year on April 9, Aluva Manappuram on the banks of Periyar witnesses a quiet, heart-wrenching ritual. Eleven-year-old Aryananda kneels by the river, lowering handfuls of rice and flowers into the flowing waters after performing Bali. In the initial years, she would ask why. Her grandmother, Shyamala, would gently tell her it was to keep her father’s soul at peace, and she would complete the rituals patiently. 

Now, she no longer asks. She knows the offerings are for her father Sreejith, who she remembers only in fragments — a face, a voice, fleeting moments from her early childhood. She was just three when he died. Or rather, as the family puts it, when he was “murdered by the police” in the sensational 2018 Varapuzha custodial death case. 

As shocking tales of police brutality emerge in Kerala, a family has been awaiting justice for seven years. The Crime Branch submitted a 1,000-page chargesheet in December 2019, invoking murder charges against four policemen. The case is currently under the consideration of the Principal District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam. But while the trial is yet to begin, the officers accused of beating Sreejith to death are out on bail, some even reinstated into service. 

A case of mistaken identity
Sreejith, a native of Varapuzha in Ernakulam, had been picked up on April 6 night over his suspected role in the suicide of K M Vasudevan (54), who ended his life after being assaulted by a gang. He was apparently mistaken for one of the attackers. 

On April 7, he was taken to a private hospital in Kochi. But by April 9, he succumbed to his internal injuries allegedly caused by police torture. The Crime Branch later took over the probe, and a team led by IG S Sreejith charged four policemen — Santhosh Kumar P P, Jithin Raj, Sumesh M S, and then Varapuzha SI Deepak G S — with murder, and five others with other offences. 

“Dragged away before my eyes” 
According to Shyamala, the night of April 6, 2018, is burned into memory. Around 10 pm, Sreejith was lying on the sit-out floor for some fresh air when policemen in mufti walked in. “They asked him to wear a shirt and go with them. When he asked why, they dragged him right in front of my eyes. They beat him, though we begged and pleaded that he was not involved in any case,” Shyamala recalled. 

For two days, Sreejith remained locked up, crying in severe stomach pain. “We pleaded with the police to take him to hospital. If they had done it, he would still be alive,” she said. “It has been seven years since I lost my son. Still, we believe in law and hope the court will punish them.”

For Sreejtih’s wife Akhila, April 9 was not just the day she lost her husband — it was also their fifth wedding anniversary. She still remembers Sreejith's face at the hospital hours before he died. “At dawn, I got a call that he had been admitted to the private hospital where I worked as a nursing assistant. His intestine was punctured, his stomach swollen from internal bleeding. His urine was red like blood. He was in unbearable pain, yet he told us, ‘don’t worry, I will be fine’. Just before surgery, his last words were: ‘take care of my daughter’. That was the last time I saw him conscious,” Akhila said. 

The emergency surgery was performed, but it could not save Sreejith. “Doctors said they tried their best, but it was too late. Hours later, he was gone,” said Akhila, who is now a clerk at Paravur Taluk office. 

A daughter grows up with questions 
Aryananda, who once asked innocent questions about why she was performing rituals, now carries her father’s absence like a shadow. “She misses him a lot, though she only has fragments of memories,” Akhila said. 
“During Onam vacation, when her classmates went on trips with their parents, she told me, ‘if my dad was there, I could have gone too’. When Sreejith was alive, we travelled often. Now I don’t have the mindset to go anywhere. Life is just going with the flow. What we want is justice — those responsible for Sreejith’s murder must be punished,” she said. 

In April 2025, the case faced another setback when special prosecutor P G Manu was found dead in a suspected suicide after being accused in a sexual harassment case. The government has since appointed a new prosecutor, but the trial might take more time. “The accused officers are out on bail and got their jobs back, while we are left with nothing but grief,” Shyamala said. “Still, we believe in the law and wait for justice. All we can do now is pray for my son’s soul and hope the court gives us a favourable verdict,” Shyamala said softly.