Chennai: Coming to the rescue of a 25-year-old woman, belonging to scheduled caste and working as a noon meal worker at Kurumbalur in Sivagangai district, who was subjected to assault, torture and human rights violation by six policemen on July 7, 2002, the Madras high court has directed the state government to pay her Rs 2 lakh within 6 weeks as compensation.
Justice M.S.Ramesh gave the directive while allowing a petition filed by Alagammal, which sought a direction to the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh.
Petitioner alleged that on July 7, 2002, six policemen including Balasubramaniam had come to her house and assaulted her and took her into custody, in a van. She was scolded in filthy language and manhandled, without informing the reason for such ill treatment. Later she was produced before the revenue divisional officer, Devakottai. She was then dropped at Devakottai bus stand and on the same she got admitted in a government hospital, she added.
Refuting the allegations, additional advocate general Narmada Sampath submitted that the petitioner had concocted the entire facts of the case and that the real issue commenced from a matrimonial dispute arose between the petitioner and her husband and subsequently, when a dispute arose between Palanichamy and the petitioner in connection with ploughing of a land with a help of a tractor. The dispute was heard by the village head and the petitioner had agreed to pay Rs 4,000. Both the parties belong to different castes and since it was apprehended that there could be disturbance to the law and order, a case came to be registered, she added.
The judge said while the petitioner had produced the letter of the joint secretary to the government, home department dated September 30, 2002, (which stated that Balasubramaniam had assaulted the petitioner, arrested her in her night dress and failed to record the statement of witnesses at the scene of occurrence for which act, he was transferred to Thoothukudi and subsequently suspended from service), evidencing the assault and violation of the procedure adopted for arrest was produced before this court along with the wound certificate dated September 24, 2002, evidencing injuries, no records have been produced by the authorities, to the contra. While that being so, this court was constrained to take a decision on the basis of the letter of the Joint Secretary, which letter has been ratified to be genuine by the deputy secretary to government, home department, through his affidavit.
