CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has come to the rescue of a custodial torture victim by ordering treatment for his injuries in a private super-specialty hospital.Justice K Chandru, who gave the direction, made it clear that it was only an interim arrangement and the question as to who should pay for the medical treatment would be decided later.C Dhanasekaran was arrested by the New Washermenpet police and admitted in the Government Royapettah Hospital on March 16. The police claimed that he had suffered fractures in a fall from a 40 feet high building. The victim’s teeth were broken, lips torn and legs found fractured.When his sister Chitra approached the High Court seeking better treatment for her brother, Justice Chandru put a specific question to the government advocate asking how exactly Dhanasekaran sustained the injuries. In this regard, he pointed out that Chitra had made a detailed description of the circumstances and the manner in which her brother had suffered the injuries.Giving an insight into the torture techniques of the city police, Chitra said her brother’s legs were wrapped with wet gunny bags and tied with ropes before being beaten with casuarina logs. Two police personnel stretched his legs and stood on his knee and ankle joints. He was hit with the butt of rifles, leaving him with broken teeth and torn lips.While all this was being done, Dhanasekaran was kept gagged with cotton. “He was denied even the privilege of crying out in pain,” Chitra alleged. To verify her claims, the judge had directed advocate V Lakshmi Narayanan to meet Dhanasekaran in the hospital, where he was given treatment initially, and recorded his first-hand narration. The advocate inspected the victim and filed a report, which more or less tallied with the averments of Chitra’s allegations. Convinced that Dhanasekaran had been subjected to custodial torture, the judge referred him to the private hospital and posted the matter to April 25 for further orders.
Comments
0 comment