CHENNAI: Six years after the alleged death by suicide of accused Ramkumar in the Swati murder case, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Monday ordered the State government to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to his father Paramasivan, and recommended an independent probe to ascertain whether Ramkumar died by suicide as alleged by prison officials.
The commission has also asked the Tamil Nadu government to appoint enough prison officials to “ensure the safety and security of prisoners in their custody.” According to Puzhal Central Prison officials, on September 18, 2016, Ramkumar, who was lodged in the high-security block of the prison, had asked a warder standing outside his cell for water.
The warder opened the cell and allowed Ramkumar to drink water kept in a pot outside the cell. When Ramkumar came out to drink water, he allegedly pulled a live wire from a nearby switchboard and bit the wire. The warder pushed him away with his police baton and switched off the power supply. The assistant surgeon of the prison hospital rushed to the spot and gave him first aid.
‘Police, prison officials flouted human rights’
Pris on officials later took Ramkumar to Government Royapettah Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Following Ramkumar’s death, his father Paramasivan expressed doubts over the circumstances leading to his death. He alleged that the death was an act of ‘homicide’ and police and prison officials had violated his son’s human rights.
The SHR C took suo moto cognizance of the case based on a news article from an English daily. The commission said in its order on Monday that based on the statement of Petchimuthu, a grade I warder of Puzhal Central Prison, the commission believes that prison officials were assigned to monitor and supervise the inmates of the jail.
Hence, the SHR C said the prison officials cannot be held solely responsible for the death of the deceased in the prison, and the government must also be blamed. It is the responsibility of the State government to appoint sufficient officials to ensure proper supervision of inmates.
The commission also noted that the reason stated for Ramkumar’s death in the final report of AIIMS doctor Dr Sudhir Gupta was that he died due to asphyxia. One of the witnesses, Dr R Selvakumar, in his postmortem certificate and in his evidence, had categorically stated that Ramkumar died due to electrocution. But he could not say if it was due to self-inflicted joule injuries.
Selvakumar had also admitted that one of the injuries on Ramkumar’s body could not have been inflicted by the deceased himself. Considering the above aspects, the SHRC ordered a compensation of `10 lakh to Ramkumar’s father and an independent probe into his death. S Swathi, 24, an IT employee, was hacked to death at Nungambakkam railway station in daylight on June 24, 2016.
After much public outrage, police arrested Ramkumar, a youth from southern Tirunelveli. Police said he had attempted to kill himself by slitting his throat at the time of his arrest, and allegedly died by suicide in prison on Sept 18, 2016.