Indo-American actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas – who was heavily criticised for keeping mum during the Delhi violence in January and for supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US – raised her voice against police brutality in India after she came across the Jayraj and Bennix case.
Taking to Twitter, the 36-year-old Baywatch actress first re-tweeted a video with the horrific details of the case and then wrote how “stunned, sad and angry” the incident left her.
“The guilty must not be allowed to go unpunished”, Priyanka wrote.
This video explains everything and i will also address the blackpink issue in this so non-indians can understand what is going on, and I will attach petitions and other things so you all can understand and hopefully support :)#JusticeforJayarajAndFenix pic.twitter.com/XMY4pbQ6yx
— pinned📌 (@SayAmenStyles) June 26, 2020
#JusticeForJayarajandBennicks pic.twitter.com/vGi8m63If2
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) June 26, 2020
Testifying to the phenomenon of short public memory, the “Quantico” star’s post garnered appreciation and gratitude-filled reactions from her followers.
I’m glad that you’ve raised your voice Priyanka. Such brutality needs to be called out outright! Thanks for your voice ❤️ #JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix #JUSTICEFORJAYARAJANDBENNIX
— 🍒 (@missphalange09) June 26, 2020
Thank you for voicing out Priyanka! I am actually from that place where the incident happened.What happened to those two men was such a cruelty! They should be punished! #JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix
— Sachu (@OfficiallySachu) June 26, 2020
The family of the now dead father-son duo has alleged that both Jayraj and Bennix were severely beaten up at the police station by cops, who went as far as stripping them naked and inserting rods in their private parts.
Several entertainment celebrities, including Vir Das, Kritika Kamra and Nikhil Advani among others, have expressed their horror at the incident.
What happened to a father and son at the hands of those policemen is wrong at every human level and every single person irrespective of place of origin or political belief needs to stand up for them. It is plain horrific and wrong. DEMAND action. #JusticeforJayarajAndFenix
— Vir Das (@thevirdas) June 26, 2020
Absolutely horrified!! #JusticeforJayarajAndBennicks #JUSTICEFORJAYARAJANDBENNIX https://t.co/ITiOMKompd
— Kritika Kamra (@Kritika_Kamra) June 26, 2020
Ruthless, horrific beating to death in #Tuticorin is one more chapter in the systemic violence prevalent in police stations across India. Sadly, institutions that should provide hope - public hospitals and police are actually the most hopeless. #Reform #JusticeForJeyarajAndFenix
— Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) June 27, 2020
The case comes at a time when the world is boiling over the death of a black man named George Floyd, who was killed while being arrested by Minnesota cops in the US.
The incident reinvigorated the #BlackLivesMatter movement worldwide, which targeted the police officials for their brutality and exploitation of power.
Netizens in India drew parallels between the George Floyd case and the violence that Indian police participated in during the communal violence that erupted in India earlier this year.
At the time, several videos of Indian police officials thrashing youngsters and making them sing the national anthem surfaced on social media – which were left unaddressed by influential public figures, including Priyanka herself.
