Probe into death of prisoner
Protest by prisoners as they scale up walls, trees
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-06-27 07:34 GMT
Coimbatore: A judicial Magistrate conducted a probe into the suspicious death of a 54-year-old prisoner at the Coimbatore Central Prison here on Friday. The Judicial Magistrate III Nambirajan held enquiries with the family members of A Karuppasamy (54), from Sirumugai, a murder convict, who died in prison on Thursday reportedly due to heart attack.
Karuppasamy’s wife Palaniammal had earlier alleged that her husband, who was in good health, was beaten to death by prison staff. The incident also triggered a protest by prisoners, who scaled up the walls and trees and refused to take breakfast.
As part of the inquiry, Judicial Magistrate Nambirajan visited the prison and interacted with the prisoners and staff. Meanwhile, the autopsy of Karuppasamy was videographed as per the recommendations, in case of suspicious deaths, of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The body of the deceased was handed over to his family members after an autopsy in the afternoon. His body was taken to his native Sirumugai for cremation.
Meanwhile, in another development, A Sasikala, wife of Ayyappan, a murder convict, was allowed to meet her husband after she raised suspicion that he too could have been killed in the prison. After an advocate called her and said that her husband had also been killed by prison staff on Thursday night, Sasikala visited CMCH on Friday early morning to check if the body of her husband had been kept there.
She then reached the prison where she was told that her husband is alive. However, as she insisted on meeting him, the prison authorities let her in, though visitors are not allowed on Fridays as per prison protocol. A prison official said that she was allowed to meet her husband for a few minutes to defuse tension.
The relatives and friends of the prisoners are allowed to meet the inmates only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On coming out of the prison, Sasikala told the media that her husband was assaulted and tortured by prison staff.