 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Jul 18, 2009 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tamil Nadu |
|
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary |
Tamil Nadu
CHENNAI: Stating that there was gross dereliction of duty by officials with regard to the safety and security of inmates of the Special Prison for Women, Vellore, leading to an attack on a woman prisoner by convict warders, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay a compensation of Rs.50,000 to the victim. A Division Bench, comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and C.T. Selvam, directed the Home Secretary and the Director-General of Prison to identify the officials in-charge at the time of the incident and initiate disciplinary proceedings against them. In his petition, P. Pugalenthi, an advocate, had sought a direction to authorities to produce Saradha (55), lodged in the Special Prison for Women, Vellore, before the court, provide her treatment for injuries suffered in the prison, take disciplinary action against those responsible for her ill-treatment and award her compensation. The petitioner submitted that he had gone to the prison for meeting his client Nalini (convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case), who had informed him that Saradha was brought to the prison in December last year. While being taken inside her cell, she clandestinely carried Rs.5,000. Fearing detection, she handed over the amount to a co-prisoner. Two days later, she demanded the prisoner return the money, but the latter refused. When Saradha threatened the inmate that she would report to the jailor and started walking towards the official’s office, three convict warders, Kasthuri, Muneeswari and Dhanam, along with another inmate, assaulted her. She was also humiliated. The woman did not get the attention of prison officials for being provided medical treatment. In its order allowing the petition, the Bench said from the averments made in the petition and the subsequent supporting affidavit filed by the detenu, it was seen that Saradha was attacked by the three warders in a barbaric manner. The Bench said it was disturbed as to what the prison authorities were doing when the incident took place in daylight inside the prison. The convict warders, appointed by the jail authorities, could not take for granted that they could behave in the manner they wished to. The Bench said that the authorities, particularly the prison Superintendent, tried to make out as if no such incident had taken place. Had the guidelines prescribed for appointing convict warders been scrupulously followed, “unscrupulous persons like the convict warders in the case on hand” would not have found a place in such appointments. The court directed the authorities to proceed against the three convict warders and Chinnapapa, the co-prisoner to whom Saradha had given the money.
Printer friendly
page
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | Publications | eBooks | Images | Ergo | Home |
Copyright © 2009, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|