CHENNAI: Alleging her husband was being tortured in Puzhal Prison, a woman has moved the Madras High Court to ensure his safety. A division bench of Justices MM Sundresh and RMT Teekaa Raman, before which the habeas corpus petition came up for hearing on October 1, issued notice to the prison superintendent, returnable in two weeks.
According to Stella Mary, her husband Pandiyan was serving life imprisonment in connection with a murder case, from 2004. Pandiyan is working in the shoe polish section in the prison. While the remuneration was raised to 89 paise from 49 per shoe, immediately after Senthil Kumar took charge as the jail superintendent, the remuneration was reduced back to 49 paise per shoe.
Hence, the petitioner sent a query through RTI Act, seeking details. “Instead of answering my query, the official started harassing and torturing my husband,” she claimed, adding he also coerced her to withdraw the query. Hence, the present petition.