Madurai: The Madras high court on Monday directed the father of Akash, who died of custodial torture in Manamadurai in Sivaganga district on March 8, to receive his body from Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in Madurai by 5pm. However, the family did not heed the court order. They have been refusing to take the body for the past three months, demanding action against the police personnel responsible for Akash's death.
The court passed the order while hearing the petition filed by Akash's father, A Rajeshkannan, which was listed for mention before the court on Monday. During the hearing, the government counsel submitted that Akash's body was in a decomposed condition and doctors were unable to enter the mortuary. Therefore, the government counsel sought a direction to the police to dispose of the body.
Justice L Victoria Gowri directed the petitioner to receive the body by 5pm on Monday, failing which the state would be directed to take necessary steps to dispose of it. The court posted the case on June 16 for compliance.
On June 10, the court disposed of a petition by Rajeshkannan seeking a direction to the state to register a murder case arising out of the alleged custodial torture under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, based on the complaint lodged by him. The court observed that based on the judicial magistrate's remand report and preliminary postmortem materials, the offence had already been altered into one under Section 103 of BNS 2023 read with Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Investigation has been transferred to the CB-CID, and a deputy superintendent of police has been appointed as investigating officer. CCTV footage has been secured. Relevant medical, prison, and police records have been collected. Hence, the court directed the investigating officer to complete the investigation as expeditiously as possible and file the final report before the jurisdictional court in accordance with law.
