Rights panel confirms inmates who exposed Sasikala's royal treatment were tortured by officials
- Thirty-two inmates were badly beaten up by the jail officials for allegedly revealing to to IPS officer D Roopa undue facilities to influential inmates
- Then, superintendent of prisons, Krishna Kumar was in the dock for torturing the prisoners
- The SHRC has now slapped a notice on the officer seeking explanation from him
FollowUpholding various media reports that highlighted the brutal high-handedness of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prisons officials on the inmates who exposed VIP treatment to Sasikala in the jail, the State Human Rights Commission has confirmed that the inmates were tortured by the jail officials.
The Commission in its 72-page report has stated that the prison inmates were tortured by Krishna Kumar, then prisons chief superintendent reports Deccan Herald. The Commission has sent a notice to Krishna Kumar who is expected to appear before it on October 23.
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It may be recalled here that it was during former DIG (prisons) D Roopa's inspection to the jail that the inmates had complained to her that they were not allowed to go on parole and were treated inhumanly by the officers. They had also complained about the irregularities in the prison. Eventually, Roopa's expose on royal treatment to Sasikala in prison became national headlines. She was later shunted out of the prisons department, too.
Apparently irked by the inmates complaint to IPS officer Roopa, then jail superintendent Krishna Kumar along with other jail officials rounded up 32 inmates, dragged them into a room and were beaten black and blue.
"We were asked to leave for our cells, and we did so. However, late in the night, the police who were completely drunk pulled out us one by one and handcuffed us. Later, they unleashed the monster in them. Our cries for help fell on deaf ears," was how one of the inmates had recounted the horror to Kannada Prabha.
These 32 inmates were secretly shifted to other prisons in Ballari, Kalaburagi and Belagavi, without informing their families. Some of them were beaten up so badly that they could neither stand or nor walk. A few of them were moved in wheelchairs, reports Deccan Herald, quoting the SHRC report.
As the media highlighted the jail officials' torture, the National Human Rights Commission had taken note of it, and it had sought an explanation from the state.
Soumendu Mukherjee, inspector general of police (SHRC) has submitted a report to the state government. Meanwhile, SHRC chairperson Meera C Saxena told Deccan Herald that the commission took up a Suo motu case and initiated a probe into it.
The 72-page report makes a note of the fact that the prisoners were treated inhumanly even for protesting against IPS officer Roopa's transfer from the prisons.
