HC orders re-postmortem in alleged custodial death of youth in Madurai

A petition filed by Santhosh, the brother of the victim, of Anaikaraipatti village near Usilampatti came up for hearing before Justice GR Swaminathan.

The petitioner stated that his family members including victim were often taken to Saptur police station and enquired after his brother Idhayakani married a girl.

Such enquiries caused his family mental agony and on September 16, his younger brother K Ramesh (20), the victim, was picked by Sub Inspector of Police Jayakannan and constable Raja.

The family thought Ramesh would return home once the enquiry was over. But much to the shock, Ramesh was found dead hanging from a tree at just about 300 feet distance away from the house.

Further, the petitioner claimed that his brother Ramesh was illegally detained by Saptur police and thrashed in the guise of inquiry. Moreover, postmortem was done hastily at 5.30 pm, in violation of stipulated timing allowed for conducting autopsy within 4 pm.

Citing these, the petitioner sought the court’s direction to conduct re-postmortem on the body by a special forensic team comprising three senior surgeons from Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital and Theni Government Medical College Hospital. Meanwhile, the petition counsel stated that the autopsy footage showed 26 clippings that too ran for just about seven minutes. The Judge asked why the autopsy was not filmed completely, while there were serious allegations of illegal detention and death allegedly by custodial torture.

The Judge also questioned the urgency of conducting postmortem at Usilampatti Government Hospital, while Theni GH and Madurai GRH were at a 20-minute and 40-minute distance, respectively. The Judge then ordered Tirunelveli Government Medical College professors including Selvamurugan and Prasanna to conduct re-postmortem on the body in the presence of senior forensic expert and also to have full videography of the entire autopsy.