The Telangana High Court on the 24th of June, Thursday ordered a judicial inquiry into custodial death of a dalit woman in Telangana.
Recently, on the 23rd of June, a dalit woman Mariamma died under the police custody in Telangana.Dalit woman from the village of Komatlagudem, Telangana state, died while in the Addagudur police station. Her death, which occurred in the early hours of June 18, would have occurred as a result of injuries sustained in a beating.
Ms. Mariyamma was taken from her home by plainclothes officers along with her son Uday on June 16, following a theft report filed a few days before. The woman worked as a maid in a house in Addagudur. According to reports from her daughter Swapna, Ms. Mariyamma was reported to be taken back to the village the next day and beaten there by six plainclothes officers in front of her youngest daughter. The next night she did not survive the aftermath of the beatings.
Father Devasagayaraj M. Zackarias, former national secretary of the commission for disadvantaged castes of the Bishops’ Conference of India, comments to AsiaNews: “The death in detention of the Dalit woman is a horrible and disgusting fact. It’s nothing more than a police murder. Vulnerable people face discrimination from society and even those who, like law enforcement, should be neutral are on the side of the oppressors.”
According to the cleric, the Central Bureau of Investigation must open an inquiry into this case. “Death in detention – continues Fr Zackarias – has become frequent and minorities and Dalits are the most affected. Last year it was Jayaraj and Bennix, another father and son who were beaten to death. Only later after many months the perpetrators were arrested. Since the poor and the marginalized are voiceless, the police become brutal to the point of killing. This is to be condemned and must stop immediately
The Telangana High Court asked to perform second autopsy if required. It also directed the Alair magistrate of judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Mariamma and was asked to submit the report in a sealed cover.
The court also expressed displeasure over the police for not installing CC cameras in the police station and questioned as to why they failed to install the cameras even after the supreme court’s order. The court is dealing with the petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) chief secretary Jaya Vindyala and adjourned the matter to the 28th of June.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission issued orders to the Rachakonda Commissioner of Police to submit a report of the dalit woman’s death and ordered a detailed investigation. Mahesh Bhagwat was asked to submit a comprehensive report on Mariamma’s death by the 28th of July.
Mariamma and her son were sent to the prison in Addagudur of Yadadri district on the allegations of theft. Dalit association leaders alleged that Mariamma was dead after being thrashed by the police and took the matter to the Human Rights Commission.
