TIRUNELVELI: State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) member V Kannadasan on Friday reserved orders into an alleged custodial torture that resulted in the death of a 33-year-old man in 2017.
P Santhi, widow of A Pandiarajan, wife told the commission, “My husband left home on February 2, 2017, for the Asanam feast at a church and did not return home. Thoothukudi South police personnel took him to the police station that night allegedly to inquire regarding a dispute between him and a constable, Ruba Roslin. I came to know about it in the wee hours of the next day, when a policeman called and asked me to bring my husband’s depression tablets. I was told to come to the GH at 4 am. After reaching there, I was made to wait for two hours, and then informed that my husband had died of heart attack. Our advocate and relatives noticed there were several injuries on his body. He was beaten to death by police in custody.”
Counsel for police personnel Santhi Selvi and Ramchandar denied her charges. They said Pandiarajan had died of a heart attack. Citing the postmortem report, Kannadasan asked the counsel about what had caused the contusions that were found on Pandiarajan’s body.
The counsel replied that Dr C Manoharan, who issued the postmortem report, had submitted before the inquiry officer that the contusions may have been caused by a fall. After hearing the arguments, Kannadasan reserved the order.
In another case, residents of Thiruppanipuram, a hilly hamlet, said the officials had denied electricity supply to their area. The SHRC decided to inspect the area and posted the next hearing to September 12.