1. Home
  2. Gauri murder: HC seeks report on 'torture' of accused

Gauri murder: HC seeks report on 'torture' of accused

Agencies
June 19, 2018

Bengaluru, Jun 19: The Karnataka High Court has directed two magistrate courts here to submit a report on allegations of custodial torture of four accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case and non-compliance of judicial procedures.

The allegations are "serious in nature" and the Registry of the High Court has been directed to communicate the order to the magistrates of the first and third additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) courts, Justice K N Phaneendra said when the matter came up for hearing yesterday.

"They should submit a report on the allegations within 10 days from the date of receipt of this order," he said.

In an affidavit, advocate N P Amrutesh alleged that Amol Kale, one of the accused in the case, was beaten, slapped and punched on his cheek by police officers while in custody.

The magistrates also failed to comply with procedures mandated by the Supreme Court regarding persons in police custody, he claimed.

The advocate is representing Kale, Sujith Kumar, Amit Ramachandra Degvekar and Manohar Edave, arrested in connection with the killing of the veteran journalist.

The counsel for the accused also alleged that the magistrate did not order a medical examination even after being informed on June 14 about the torture meted out to one of the accused by the police.

"Instead, the magistrate only recorded injury marks on his body," he said.

The counsel further said similar complaints regarding custodial torture of the other accused were also made on May 31 before the magistrate of the third ACMM, which was neglected.

Hence, he prayed for a court direction to authorities concerned to conduct a medical examination of the accused and a probe into their illegal detention and torture by the police.

He also sought Rs 25 lakh as compensation for each of the accused, besides a direction to the magistrate to record their statements in in-camera proceedings.

On June 12, the high court had issued notices to the Karnataka government, state police chief and police officials concerned in the matters.

It had also directed the police to ensure that the accused were not ill-treated.

Gauri Lankesh, a Left-leaning journalist and a strong Hindutva critic, was shot-dead from a close range by motorcycle-borne assailants in front of her house on September 5 last year.

Comments

Farooq
 - 
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

Fake allegation. Its for escaping. 

Sandesh
 - 
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

Serious Human Right violation

Kumar
 - 
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

Trapped. Now human rights people may start making issues

Danish
 - 
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

If he killed, then torture is not enough. Kill him also

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 5: An FIR has been filed against former journalist and human rights activist Aakar Anil Patel in Bengaluru here over his comments on social media under charges pertaining to provocation with intent to cause riots.

The FIR was registered under Section 117 (abetting commission of an offence by the public or by more than ten persons), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), and 505-1-B (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the JC Nagar police station.

According to the FIR filed on June 2, Patel had tweeted that protests like the ones in the US over George Floyd's death are needed in India by the marginalised communities.

Patel, former chief of Amnesty International India, had on May 31 posted from his Twitter account, which is not verified.

On May 25, Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following which protests against police brutality and racism erupted in various cities in the United States. The protests were later replaced by incidents of violence across the country.

India also has witnessed several cases of mob lynchings and custodial deaths in recent years. In most cases victims belong to down trodden communities such as Muslims and Dalits.

Responding to the development, Amnesty International India has said that FIR against Patel is another example of how the right to dissent is being "increasingly" criminalised.

"The Bengaluru police must stop abusing its authority and put an end to the intimidation and harassment of Aakar Patel for exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression. People of this country have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests - without fear or unlawful interference," Amnesty International India Executive Director Avinash Kumar said.

He said that peacefully protesting against the government is not a crime and added that not agreeing with the policies of those in power does not make you a traitor.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 4,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 4: The chemistry department of National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K) here has started producing hand sanitizers in view of its shortage in the market after the coronavirus outbreak.

The social initiative led by Arun Isloor, professor and head of the department, was launched by NIT-K director K Uma Maheshwar Rao.

The raw materials needed for this product were provided by the institute.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 30,2020

Bhatkal, Mar 30: Uttara Kannada district administration has decided to shift all those Bhatkal residents who have returned from abroad after March 15 to quarantine facilities in Bhatkal town to avoid further family contacts, Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada K Harish Kumar said on Monday.

“All primary contacts identified are already in government quarantine facilities,” he said in a communique.

All people must cooperate to maintain social distancing to avoid further spread of COVID-19, he added.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.