Madras HC seeks report on youtuber Savukku Shankar's health amid custodial torture allegations
Chennai: In response to allegations of custodial torture against YouTuber Savukku Shankar, the Madras High Court has requested a report from the District Legal Services Authority, Coimbatore, regarding his health condition.
The vacation bench comprising Justice AD Jagadish Chandira and Justice R Kalaimathi has instructed the authority to furnish a report by May 9, 2024. This decision came after being informed that the DLSA had deployed three empaneled lawyers and a specialist doctor to assess Shankar's health. The directive stemmed from a habeas corpus petition filed by Shankar's mother, Kamala, seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of her son in custody and urging for his adequate medical care in a government hospital.
Shankar was arrested by the Coimbatore police on May 4, following a complaint by a female journalist regarding defamatory statements against women police officers. He has been detained in judicial custody until May 17, facing charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and related statutes. Shankar's mother alleges that he sustained severe injuries, including a fractured right hand, due to police brutality while in custody. Moreover, she asserts that the prison authorities have neglected to provide appropriate medical treatment, thereby violating his fundamental rights.
During the court proceedings, Senior Advocate John Sathyan, representing Shankar, argued that his client showed no signs of injury upon arrest but later exhibited a fractured hand, indicating possible custodial violence. Although Sathyan requested the court to allow Shankar to be presented via video conferencing for examination of his injuries, the court deemed it unnecessary, stating it would broaden the scope of the habeas corpus petition.
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19-yr-old woman found hanging from tree in UP village; juvenile held
Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.
Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.
Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.
The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.
According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.
"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.
While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."
"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."
"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.
"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.
