The Madras High Court bench here has directed the District Collector of Ramanathapuram to conduct an inquiry into the alleged illegal detention and harassment of a 16 year-old-boy.
Mariagnanam, in his petition, claimed that his son was taken into custody by the Parthibanoor police on October 23, 2012 based on a complaint filed by one Savariyammal alleging theft of her gold jewellery. He was released after a few days in custody, but was subjected to mental harassment under the pretext of inquiries, Mr Mariagnanam claimed.
The Inspector of the Parthibanoor police station told the villagers that the teen-aged boy was a thief. He was summoned to the police station over a period of four months. The missing jewellery was later traced. They were misplaced and not stolen. Consequently, his son was released by the police, the petitioner claimed.
However, the treatment meted out to the boy while in custody affected his mental stability. In his petition, he demanded departmental action against the inspector and sought for a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for mental agony due to harassment.
The inspector of police denied the allegations and stated in an affidavit that the minor boy was summoned only for questioning and was not taken into custody. He advanced on alibi claiming that he was not present in the police station when the petitioner’s son was questioned.
Justice K.K. Sasidharan heard the contentions of both the parties, but said a detailed inquiry is necessary to adjudge the case. “There is only an affidavit and a counter affidavit before me and on the basis of such documents, it would not be possible to decide the writ petition”, the judge observed in his order.
“The inquiry should be comprehensive. All the records maintained at the police station should be examined. It is open to the RDO to examine witnesses to form an opinion with regard to the accuracy of the version of the petitioner and the police officer”, the judge said.
