The Madras High Court on Wednesday stayed a suo motu inquiry initiated by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in September 2020 into the 2016 death of P. Ramkumar inside the Central Prison in Puzhal near Chennai. He was a suspect in the murder of Swathi, a techie, at the Nungambakkam railway station.
Justices K. Kalyanasundaram and V. Sivagnanam granted the interim stay on a writ petition filed by the then prison superintendent, R. Anbalagan, who had retired from service in 2016. The petitioner said it was unnecessary on the part of the SHRC to have ordered an inquiry after four years. He said an inquiry, at the instance of the National Human Rights Commisssion, as well as a judicial probe had concluded that the death of Ramkumar was due to electrocution, and that he had died by suicide.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)
