The Telangana High Court today ordered a judicial enquiry into the suspicious "lock-up" death of a Dalit woman Mariyamma that reportedly took place at the Addagudur police station of the Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district of the state.
It asked the Alair magistrate to enquire into the issue and submit a detailed report of the findings in a sealed cover. It also asked the magistrate to perform another post-mortem of the dead body if required.
The HC then faulted the police station for not having CCTV cameras on its premises, and asked the police department why they had not been installed even after the Supreme Court of India had issued guidelines directing police stations to set up the cameras.
The court was then adjourned till June 28.
Besides the state's apex court, the Telangana State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC) also took cognisance of the death of Mariyamma, and issued notices to Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagwat regarding the incident.
The body asked the Commissioner to submit a report on the alleged custodial death of the Dalit woman while addressing a petition filed by the Dalit Bahujan Students Federation.
These directives come after Mariyamma, a native of Chintakanipalli mandal's Komatigudem village, in Khammam, who was employed as a cook in a house in the Govindapuram village of Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district's Adla Guduru mandal, was arrested on charges of theft and then died while in custody.
Reports suggest that she and her son Uday Kiran were arrested after she was accused of stealing from the house where she was employed - the duo, arrested on June 16 in Komatigudem village, was first taken to the Adla Guduru police station and then to the Chintakanipalli police station.
Further, it is being said that while in custody, Mariyamma and her son were subjected to severe torture using third-degree methods at the Chintakanipalli police station from 10:30 pm to 3:30 am on June 16, and that they were then tortured at the Adla Guduru police station again the next day as a result of which Mariyamma lost her life in the presence of her son Uday Kiran who is currently being treated at a hospital in Khammam.
Like the HC and the TSHRC, the Congress leadership also
issued a statement on the incident some days ago.
In the statement, TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and CLP Assembly leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had appealed to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to take stringent action against the police personnel responsible for the reported lockup death under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989).