MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the state government to pay Rs 25 lakh - within two months - compensation to the family of a 17-year-old boy who died allegedly due to custodial torture at the hands of SS Colony police in Madurai in 2019.
Justice P Dhanabal passed the order on a petition filed by M Jeya, mother of the deceased Muthu Karthick. According to Jeya, Karthick worked as a cleaner in an earth mover. He was taken to SS colony police station on January 13, 2019, for inquiry in connection with a burglary reported in their area.
She claimed that her son was subjected to physical torture by the police for nearly three days and was later admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on January 18, 2019. “The doctors informed us that our son had multiple injuries and his kidney was damaged. Despite treatment, he died on January 24,” she added. Owing to certain irregularities in the autopsy conducted on Karthick’s body, the high court ordered a CB-CID investigation in March 2019.
Meanwhile, she filed a petition seeking Rs 50 lakh compensation and a government job. The additional public prosecutor informed the court that the CB-CID has filed a final report against the officials concerned and the case is pending for trial before V Additional District and Sessions Judge, Madurai. Also, a compensation of Rs 5 lakh was already awarded to the family, he added. The Judge also said it is up to the government to provide jobs.