CHENNAI : Taking note of the sexual harassment meted out to a teenaged transgender person (known locally as Aravani) by police personnel of the Vyasarpadi police station, the Madras High Court has called for the case diary and documents relating to the incident.

Unable to bear the continuous sexual harassment by three police constables and sub-inspectors attached to the police station, the victim, Pandian, committed self-immolation in front of the station on June 12, and succumbed to burns on June 29.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice K. Chandru, gave the direction on a writ petition filed by R. Jayalakshmi, sister of the victim.

According to the petitioner, police picked up Pandian, saying they were searching for his friend Saranraj in connection with a theft case. However, both Pandian and Saranraj were later arrested and remanded to judicial custody on May 4.

Pandian was granted bail by a magistrate court on May 19, on the condition that he reports to the Vyasarpadi police daily at 10 a.m.

Ms. Jayalakshmi said a constable, Sampath, picked up Pandian from the latter's house at 8 a.m. on May 20 and brought him back only at 11 p.m.

This continued till June 8, when Pandian told his sister that he was continuously subjected to cruel sexual harassment by the constables and sub-inspectors despite severe bleeding. The petitioner and her mother, who went to the police station along with Pandian, were assaulted and were warned against accompanying him.

Since the harassment did not stop, Pandian set fire to himself near the station on June 12.

Detailed account

Before his death on June 29, Pandian gave a detailed account of the atrocities committed on him inside the police station and the circumstances that drove him to death. Police and judicial officers recorded the statement in the presence of duty doctors and nurses, and the petitioner, but no case was registered against the policemen.

While at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital several attempts were made by the police personnel named by him to obtain his signatures on blank papers.

Duty doctors and nurses thwarted the attempts, the petitioner said.

Besides disciplinary and criminal action against the police personnel, the petitioner sought orders restraining them from continuing in their posts saying it would affect the investigation. She also prayed for an interim compensation of Rs. 2 lakh and final compensation of Rs. 10 lakh.

The First Bench has taken cognisance of a report on the dying declaration of Pandian and summoned magazine editor A.S. Mani to court. Mr. Mani has filed an affidavit stating that he stood by the declaration.

The matter has been posted to November 20 for further proceedings.

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