MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently ordered a CB-CID probe into a complaint by a woman alleging that the Thoothukudi police brutally assaulted her husband and brother-in-law during inquiry in a murder case in August 2023.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on a petition filed by A Sudalai Vadivoo, seeking the above relief. According to the order, Vadivoo’s husband Arjunan and his brother Arumugam were booked by Seithanganallur police in Thoothukudi for the murder of one Mayandi on August 3, 2023. They were taken to the police station the same day and were allegedly brutally beaten up by the police before being remanded to judicial custody on August 5, 2023.
Though they sustained grievous injuries, neither of them informed the magistrate about the alleged torture at the time of remand. However, they raised a complaint after being lodged in prison. Claiming there was no action, Vadivoo moved the court.
Justice Venkatesh noted that Arjunan’s injuries were severe enough for him to undergo inpatient treatment for over five days. Perusing the treatment records and other documents submitted by Vadivoo in support of her allegations, the judge opined that the said documents cannot be disregarded since custodial violation amounts to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution and human rights. “Just because the person is shown as an accused in a case, that does not mean that the concerned person can be subjected to police brutality,” he further observed.
Since there are two versions, the petitioner’s version and the police version, it would be appropriate if an inquiry is conducted by the CB-CID to find out the truth, the judge added, and directed the CB-CID to conduct an inquiry into Vadivoo’s complaint and file a report to the court in a month.
However, he clarified that the said inquiry will not have any bearing on the ongoing trial proceedings in Mayandi’s murder case, in which Arjunan and Arumugam are arrayed as accused.