Madras High Court orders re-autopsy of student who was allegedly tortured by cops

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered for re-autopsy on the body of a youth who recently died at Neerkoliyenthal village in Ramanathapuram district, after allegedly being subject to torture.

L Manikandan (22) died in on Sunday under mysterious circumstances and his relatives sought action against the Keelathooval police citing torture that led to his death.

Manikandan’s kin even refused to accept his body from Mudukulathur Government Hospital.

A petition filed by the victim’s mother Ramalakshmi of Anaiseri village came up for hearing before Justice GR Swaminathan.

The petitioner claimed that on December 4, cops attempted to stop Manikandan who was on a bike at Keelathooval. But since Manikandan did not stop, the police caught him and took him to Keelathooval station, and beat him brutally.

Manikandan passed away around 1.30 am on Sunday and his body was taken for post-mortem in Mudukulathur Government Hospital. The court was also shown a CCTV footage by the police. The Judge also ordered that the entire procedure of re-autopsy be videographed.