2014 custodial death case: At 92 and 82, they live to see their grandson’s killers brought to justice

Grace and Xavier Valdaris, the grandparents of Agnelo Valdaris, at their Dharavi home from where the 24-year-old was picked up in 2014

My son might have cried helplessly and pleaded his innocence, but policemen humiliated him, forced him to do sexual acts and tortured him to death. How can I spare them? Even if I do, the almighty won't," Leonard Valdaris, father of Agnelo Valdaris, who died in police custody in 2014, told mid-day on Friday. A special court recently asked all accused to be present on October 21 for the framing of charges in the case, which will be happening for the first time in eight years.

The court, in its fourteen-page order dated September 17, stated, "All the respondents CBI (the investigating agency) and accused no 1 to 8 (policemen) be present for the next date of hearing for framing charges u/s 302, 295 (A) of the IPC in addition to the charges levelled against them in the charge sheet."
"Agnelo's grandparents, Xavier, 92, and Grace, 82, are alive today only to see the accused policemen punished for the harshest crime that they have committed," Leonard said.

Agnelo Valdaris

With three months left for his retirement as a foreman at Mumbai Port Authority, Leonard had almost given up hope for justice and was almost in tears when his lawyer phoned him on September 17 to inform him about the special court's decision. He said, "My estranged wife Elga called me ‘kolaikaran' (murderer in Tamil) and accused me of being responsible for the custodial death of our elder son, who was mere twenty-four years old. My only sin was that I stopped her from alerting Agnelo that night by calling on his mobile phone when police raided our house in Bombay Port Trust Colony, Reay Road. She wanted Agnelo to escape from his grandparent's house in Dharavi before the police team could reach him."

"Richie, as Agnelo was called, was my best friend. I miss my grandchild. The policemen responsible for taking his life, should be punished," said Xavier, who is bedridden.

Leonard Valdaris; (right) the room where Agnelo Valdaris was sleeping on the fateful night when the police came to pick him up

"They dragged my child from the stairs connecting to our mezzanine floor on which Richie was asleep that night, we pleaded to the police to set him free, but they did not pay any heed to us. The police could have questioned him on suspicion, instead of torturing him and taking his life. The policemen were wrong. My grandchild was a jovial person. He was not a bad boy," said an emotional Grace.

Leonard said for the past eight years, he had had trouble sleeping and his health had declined. "My fight for justice, though delayed, will continue. The custodial torture and death of my son, never let me sleep in peace, as his words, ‘They will kill me, they will kill me', still echo in my ears and till the final verdict is passed by the court, I will continue to fight," said the father.

"Exactly eight days after the framing of charges by the special court on October 21 against the railway policemen is the birthday of Agnelo (October 29). I have stopped celebrating festivals or birthdays since his demise. I do not know how long I will have to wait for the trial to begin and to give justice to my son. The least I can do is plead to the court to fast-track the trial, as a long time has passed and I am not sure if I will be alive when the verdict is out," he added.

Asked why he was doubtful, he said, "I have suffered a lot in the past eight years. Today, I have a lot of health issues and fighting the system is not easy, especially when you do not have any family support. My wife and younger son have parted ways with me, and I have to take care of my aged parents.

Flashback

Leonard said, "Our lives were ruined forever on the night of April 14 and early morning of April 15, 2014, when the Wadala railway police came to our house in search of Agnelo. My wife Elga, who is 54 now, was so terrified that she asked me in Tamil if she should phone Agnelo, who was at his parent's place in Dharavi and caution him about the police arrival, but I stopped her, saying if he had committed any crime, he should pay for it and that he would be produced before the court in the morning and we could secure his release. ‘We have to abide by the law,' I told her."

The father himself took the railway police team to Dharavi. "I pushed my son Agnelo into the jaws of death by handing him to the police, who had come to nab him," he said.

He said, "Just a day before his death, I met Agnelo at Sion hospital, where he told me that he was innocent and had not committed any theft. He repeatedly pleaded with me to save him but I did not take his words seriously, and his words continue to echo in my ears even today. I was helpless, and could only ask him to have faith in the almighty and not to worry, The same night he was discharged from the hospital and taken back into the Wadala railway police's custody."

On April 18, 2014, which was Good Friday, the police were to produce Agnelo before the holiday court in Bhoiwada, but when he was not produced, Leonard, called the police personnel concerned, who initially gave him a vague reply, but when he pressed them, he was asked to come to Sion hospital. It was there where he was shown his son's dead body. "The police informed me that Agnelo had attempted to flee and was hit by a local train," Leonard said.

Family split

After the incident, Elga would blame Leonard for their son's death. "I could not take this for long and this would lead to constant arguments and fights at home My younger son, Reagan, and my wife would ask me not to pursue the case in court and not to spend money and time on it, as it was useless and no one would give us justice. I want to see the accused behind bars so that no other parents have to see their grown-up son being killed mercilessly," he said. Agnelo was to get married in December 2014 and his fiancée, whom he had met on social media, lived in Malaysia.

"We had agreed to the union and both families had no objection to the same. He was to complete his graduation and we all would have settled in Malaysia, a wish that Agnelo would always share with us," Leonard said, adding that the news of his death had shattered his fiancée so badly, that she got depressed and even tried to end her life. "She had to be rehabilitated," said Leonard.

Resting place

Leonard visits the cemetery at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Sion, where Agnelo is laid to rest, in the family grave. "It is the same grave where my younger brother Don Bosco was buried in 1994. He also died at the age of 24. Don had stopped some local boys from harassing a teenage girl from our locality in Govandi, then. He was a student at Khalsa College, Matunga. A month later, the boys took revenge, attacking him with swords near our house. He sustained multiple wounds and was taken to Rajawadi hospital. He underwent treatment for nearly two years and later developed a renal problem and eventually died," he said.

Lawyer speaks

Advocate Yug Chaudhry, who represents Leonard, said, "It is unfortunate that eight long years have passed and the trial has not yet begun. The victim and witnesses are rapidly losing their faith in the criminal justice system."

18
Day in April 2014, when the youth was to be produced in court

15
Day in April 2014 that Agnelo was dragged out of the house