Justice after a decade
Posted on: 14/Mar/2013 11:13:05 AM
Its been too long for justice to take shape in this case. The suicide of Irulayee was almost ten years ago and her family has finally got justice only now.
On Feb 4th, 2004 a police team headed by Sub-Inspector Ponambalam went to Irulayee’s house near Sivagangai to look for her ex-husband’s son Malaikannu. In spite of her confirming that the boy was not there, Ponambalam harassed her with questions and then took her to the police station where she was kept in custody for four hours. She was finally released after her relatives explained to the police that they were unaware of Malaikannu’s whereabouts. Distressed, Irulayee committed suicide by consuming pesticides.
Irulayee’s son in law Periyasamy filed a petition with the State Human Rights’ Commission (SHRC) which passed on order stating that Ponambalam must pay compensation to the tune of Rs. 50,000. The policeman challenged the order by filing a writ petition in the Madras High Court in January of this year.
The bench comprising of acting Chief Justice R.K. Agarwal and Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar dismissed the petition and upheld the SHRC order.
