Custodial Killings: Four stories from Tamil Nadu in April
Ashok Agrwaal
THE HINDU
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3351235.ece
MADURAI, April 25, 2012
Eight policemen acquitted in suspected custodial death case
Staff Reporter
Fast Track Court III here on Tuesday acquitted all the accused in a case of suspected custodial death in which K. Guruvaiah, a farmer of T. Krishnapuram near Usilampatti in Madurai district died owing to injuries following alleged police torture.
Judge Hemalatha announced the judgement acquitting all the men in uniform in a case which almost took 14 years. Guruvaiah and his wife Angammal of M Kallupatti near Usilampatti were picked up by the police in July, 1998, on suspicion that they had received some stolen goods from a gang of thieves.
On July 27, 1998, Angammmal was taken from her house in Usilampatti to the nearby police station while the policemen were in search of her husband.
Later in the evening, they took her to the Oomachikulam police station. Meanwhile, Guruvaiah was arrested in Kodangipatti and brought to Oomachikulam police station where the couple was allegedly tortured. Guruvaiah succumbed to injuries on August, 2, 1998 at 5.45 p.m. in a private hospital in Usilampatti.
An enquiry was conducted by Revenue Divisional Officer and in pursuance of the report a complaint was filed against the accused policemen under Sections 147, 342, 302, 354 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code on the ground that the deceased succumbed to injuries during police custody. The nine accused policemen include an Inspector of Police and a Sub Inspector of Police and one among them died while the trial was on.
The case was transferred from District Munsif-Judicial Magistrate, Usilampatti, to Judicial Magistrate, Andipatti, and then following a writ petition filed on October 26, 2010, by Kasi Mayan, the Madras High Court on November 23, 2011, passed an order directing the FTC III to expedite the trial and complete the case before March 30, 2011.
Special Public Prosecutor T. Chinnaraja, on Tuesday,, said that they would go for a appeal in the High Court challenging the judgement. Meanwhile, the acquitted policemen stated that it was a false case of custodial death and they believed justice would be done and waited for 14 years.
TIMES OF INDIA
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-24/coimbatore/31391864_1_custodial-torture-police-station-custodial-death
Villagers stage protest over alleged custodial death
TNN Apr 24, 2012, 04.09AM IST
COIMBATORE: Pandemonium prevailed at Vadavalli police station late Sunday night and early Monday morning when over hundred residents of Ponkaliyur staged a massive protest carrying the body of a 30-year-old man whom they believe had died due to custodial torture. On Monday morning the agitators became more aggressive, blocking Maruthamalai Road in front of the police station. Traffic in the busy stretch was thrown out of gear and normal life was affected till 7.30am.
The sequence of events began at around 4.30 pm on Sunday when a police party from Vadavali station was on its rounds in the Itteri-Ponkaliyur Road. They found three men gambling in a card game, and took them to the police station. They seized Rs 770 from them. The arrested were identified as C Anand (30) of Ponkaliyur, A Hari (28) of Lingalur and H Sundaresan of Suleeswaran Patti near Pollachi. They allowed the three to go home around 8 pm after slapping cases against them under section 12 of Tamil Nadu Gambling Act.
Anand, a goods auto driver and Ponkaliyur branch secretary of DMDK, started vomiting blood around 11.30 pm and died on the way to a private hospital in Vadavalli. Doctors at the hospital confirmed that he was brought dead. As soon as the news of his death spread, residents of Ponkaliyur reached the hospital and paraded with the body before the police station. They sat in front of the police station throughout the night shouting slogans against the police. Anand's family and friends alleged that police torture had led to his death.
Around 5 am, superintendent of police (Coimbatore district) E S Uma reached the station and tried to pacify the agitators. She promised an impartial investigation into the issue based on autopsy report and statements by the other two arrested along with Anand. But the villages refused to be pacified. They then blocked the road and around 11 am about 80 protestors were arrested and shifted to a local marriage hall.
The body was taken to CMCH later but relatives of the deceased and villagers delayed the postmortem by three hours. The autopsy was eventually conducted late in the evening after the relatives were pacified by senior police officials and hospital staff. The body was handed over to relatives later.
According to Anand's aunt P Rajamani, there were visible marks of torture on Anand's neck and ears. Blood was found oozing out of both his ears, she said. The family demanded a high level investigation into the issue.
Vadavalli police have registered a case under section 174 of CrPC for suspicious death. The relatives have filed a petition with Uma seeking a high level probe into the alleged custodial torture which resulted in Anand's death. He is survived by his wife Karpagam (27) and son Deepak (3).
IBN LIVE
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/custodial-deathtn-directed-to-pay-rs-10-lakh-compensation/990033.html
Custodial death:TN directed to pay rs 10 lakh compensation
PTI | 07:04 PM,Apr 24,2012
Chennai,Apr24 (PTI) Accepting the findings of the State Human Rights Commission, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family of the man,who died in custody. Giving the ruling on a petition filed jointly by the father, widow and two minor children of the deceased Ramamurthy, Justice K K Sasidharan, who rendered the judgment, here, said "the evidence collected by the SHRC is more than sufficient to arrive at a finding that he (Ramamurthy) was subjected to cruelty and it resulted in his death." Holding that the material available clearly proved the role played by three policemen attached to Mannaparai police station in Tiruchirapalli district, the Judge said "as such the state being their employer is viscariously liable to pay the compensation." He said the policemen had actively participated in torturing the deceased and had caused multiple injuries to him while he was in lock-up. "The untimely death of Ramamurthy deprived his wife and children of his company, care and affection.Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to claim the compensation, the Judge said. Directing that the compensation be paid within eight weeks, the Judge said the father should receive Rs two lakh, the man's widow Rs three lakh and the balance of Rs five lakh be placed in a nationalised bank in the names of the children, to be claimed by them after they became majors. The Judge said it would be open to the state government to recover the amount from the police personnel involved.As per evidence, the man was in the police station on Feb25, 2000 and had died after police torture while in custody,the judge said. The petitioners had filed a writ petition, which was disposed of by the High Court in September 2003, with a direction to the SHRC to conduct a re-inquiry. The commission had found that the man had died under suspicious circumstances and recommended a probe by the crime branch-CID of the state police, which had come to the conclusion that 'it was a case of suicide'. The post mortem report also said it was 'a clear case of suicide'. The Judge, however, rejected the reports.
TIMES OF INDIA
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-12/chennai/31330721_1_jail-authorities-venkatesan-telegrams
HC awards 5 lakh compensation for custodial death
TNN Apr 12, 2012, 03.39AM IST
CHENNAI: Criticising the Puzhal prison authorities for the death of a life convict following torture, the Madras high court has awarded 5 lakh as compensation to the victim's widow and two minor children.
Justice K Chandru, disbelieving the jail authorities' claim that painter Venkatesan had died of a heart ailment, pointed out that there were injury marks and contusions all over his body and that Venkatesan did not have any record of bad health.
The judge referred to the two telegrams sent by jail authorities to the victim's wife V Valli. While the first telegram informed her that Venkatesan was admitted in hospital at 1.50am, the second telegram said he had died at 6.30am. Justice Chandru, said the telegrams were a lie, and pointed out that the hospital records clearly stated that Venkatesan was 'brought dead' early on January 31, 2008.
"Venkatesan, who was given a life sentence, has now been inflicted with death sentence, which was never imposed by a judicial court. When a person is under custody of the jail authority, the jail officials, instead of acting like a guardian of the prisoner, cannot ill-treat or torture the person for whatever reason," Justice Chandru observed in his order.
He said that instead of videographing the postmortem of the custodial case, the authorities had taken some still photographs and tried to pass it off as video coverage. He criticised the sub-divisional magistrate who examined the issue and gave a clean chit to jail authorities, though he had noticed several injuries on the body. It is unfortunate that the additional secretary to government (prisons) also made a false statement, Justice Chandru said.
"When once it is proved that there was torture inflicted on the prisoner who was kept inside, the state must take responsibility for the well-being of the prisoner. In such circumstances, if there is a finding that there was gross negligence or lack of supervision, then the court can certainly order compensation as it has been enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution that no person's liberty can be deprived except by due process of law," Justice Chandru said, directing the government to pay the compensation in two months.
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Ashok Agrwaal
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