Two Kerala policemen get death for custodial death, three get rigorous imprisonment
Thiruvananthapuram, July 25 : A CBI Special Court here on Wednesday sentenced to death two policemen and three others to rigorous imprisonment for three years in a case of custodial torture and death 13 years ago.
Those handed out capital punishment include Constables K. Jithukumar and S.V. Sreekumar, who had detained Udayakumar who later died in custody.
Those found guilty of conspiracy and destroying evidence are then Sub-Inspector Ajith Kumar, Circle Inspector E.K. Sabu and then Assistant Commissioner of Police K. Haridas.
The court on Tuesday had convicted these five for the custodial death of the 26-year-old man at the Fort police station in September 2005.
Police had detained two friends, Udayakumar and Suresh Kumar, on the charge of theft. When Udayakumar was let off later, policemen were irked when he asked for Rs 4,000 taken from his pocket by the police while he was in custody. He was brutally tortured with an iron rod, following which he died.
Udayakumar's mother Prabhavathi Amma had approached the Kerala High Court for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. "This is the best news I am hearing," she told the media as she broke down.
"Justice has been finally delivered to my son and me. It should serve as a lesson to all policemen never to use force against people. Such fate (her son's) should never befall anyone again," she added.
"It was just before the Onam festival that my son was brutally killed by these policemen. And see, Onam is now round the corner... just as my son could not eat his Onam meal then, these policemen will not be able to eat theirs this time," the aged woman said.
The convicts' counsel said that they will appeal against the verdict.
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
