6 months ago
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A fact-finding team, comprising quality rights activists, lawyers, and societal workers, has alleged that governmental captive Manoj and different prisoner, Azharuddin, were allegedly subjected to terrible carnal battle by situation authorities astatine the Viyyur High-Security Prison, Thrissur.
It demanded disciplinary and transgression enactment against the blameworthy officials and a judicial inquiry, preferably by a sitting High Court judge, into persistent quality rights violations wrong the Viyyur jailhouse arsenic good arsenic different prisons successful the State.
The 13-member fact-finding team, which included Pramod Puzhankara, K. Sahadevan, Ravi Paloor, Smitha P. Kumar and Haridas Kolathur, met the situation superintendent and respective inmates, and recorded the series of events arsenic narrated by witnesses and the victims.
Abusive language
According to their report, an altercation began erstwhile a jailhouse warden allegedly utilized abusive and obscene connection towards Azharuddin portion locking his cell.
“When Azharuddin requested the warden to talk respectfully, the second repeated the abuse. Manoj, proceeding the commotion, intervened and asked the warden not to usage derogatory language. The warden responded by verbally abusing Manoj and slapping him crossed the face. Subsequently, some prisoners were forcibly confined to their cell,” the study alleged.
Later, astir 15 jailhouse officials removed Manoj and Azharuddin from their compartment aft 6 p.m. (in usurpation of situation regulations that prohibit removing inmates from cells aft lock-up time) and took them to the ground-floor defender room, wherever they were assaulted. The adjacent morning, contempt disposable injuries and the prisoners’ pleas to beryllium taken to a hospital, some were forcibly transferred to different prisons: Azharuddin to Kannur Central Prison and Manoj to Poojappura Central Prison, Thiruvananthapuram, the study said.
Upon accomplishment astatine the Poojappura jail, Manoj was allegedly assaulted again by situation staff. He was yet admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, wherever the aesculapian introspection confirmed aggregate injuries each implicit his assemblage accordant with terrible beating.
Complaint against Manoj
Prison authorities reportedly refused Manoj’s petition to registry an FIR against the officials liable for the assault. Meanwhile, a ailment was lodged against Manoj, alleging that helium had assaulted a jailhouse official.
Acting connected a petition filed by Manoj earlier the Ernakulam NIA Special Court, the tribunal recorded Manoj’s statement, and called for his aesculapian records. The superintendents of Viyyur and Poojappura prisons were directed to look earlier the court.
“When asked astir CCTV footage of the incident, the situation superintendent said the CCTV strategy successful the Viyyur situation was “not functioning,” said the team. The superintendent declined to reply questions regarding removal of Manoj from his compartment aft 6 p.m. and the alleged assault.
The squad alleged that superior quality rights and ineligible violations, including custodial torture and deliberate disabling/non-functioning of CCTV surveillance, are occurring systematically astatine Viyyur.
It demanded the State government’s involution to registry an FIR against the situation officials liable for the battle and initiate an impartial investigation.
However, the Viyyur situation officials denied the allegations and said called them baseless.
