The Madras High Court Bench here on Thursday set aside the conviction and 10-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to eight police personnel, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, by a lower court in connection with the custodial death of a Dalit woman at Paramakudi police station in Ramanathapuram district on December 1, 2002.
Allowing criminal appeals filed by them, Justice Aruna Jagadeesan held that the prosecution had not proved the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubts.
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The victim, Karuppi, a 48-year-old domestic servant, was taken to the police station for enquiry about the theft of a gold chain from her employer’s house.
Karuppi’s body was found hanging from a transmission tower behind the police station in the early hours of December 1, 2001.
The police registered a case of suicide and claimed that she did not die in the police station.
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Later, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department and the eight police personnel were prosecuted for custodial torture.
Ten years after her death, the Principal District and Sessions Court had convicted the eight policemen on February 14, 2013, and sentenced them to 10-years of rigorous imprisonment.