Medical examination of captured prisoners allegedly beaten up by Theni jail guards confirms injuries
A view of the District Jail at Thekkampatti near Theni. | Photo credit: File Photo
A medical examination ordered by the Madras High Court on four of the 17 arrested prisoners who escaped from the Theni District Jail on October 26, 2026 and were allegedly beaten up by guards after being recaptured within two days revealed that they were suffering from multiple injuries.
A Division Bench of AD Jagadish Chandira and B. Karthikeyan was told that the medical examination of the three prisoners who have now been shifted to the Salem Central Jail and the fourth prisoner lodged in the Palayamkottai Central Jail by government doctors confirmed the injuries sustained by them.
The judges decided to take another call on the matter after receiving a report from the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA) about an investigation it had launched into the allegations of 17 inmates who escaped from the jail only because of torture and ill-treatment by guards.
They directed the High Court Registry to list the plea filed by K. Arumugathammal, a mother of two prisoners, on November 17, 2026, as the TNSLSA report was expected to be submitted to its Executive Chairman Justice SM Subramaniam, the Chief Justice of the High Court, only on November 16, 2026.
Meanwhile, the deans of the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem and the Government Medical College Hospital in Tirunelveli have been directed to provide necessary medical treatment to the injured prisoners and the jail authorities have been directed to extend full cooperation to the doctors.
The division bench also directed the chairmen of Salem and Tirunelveli District Legal Services Authority to monitor the medical care provided to the injured prisoners till they hear the writ petition on November 17, 2026 and issue further orders.
The petitioner filed a case accusing the warden of Theni jail of beating all the 17 captured prisoners, including her sons K. Meenakshi Sundaram (26) and K. Tirupathi (22), black and blue before taking them to various other jails across the state.
The petitioner stated that one of her sons was taken to Salem Central Jail and the other to Palayamkottai and that their fellow prisoners N. Solai Mugileswaran (19) and P. Sabarinathan (24) also sustained injuries as a result of being beaten up by guards after their recapture.
On 3 November 2026, passing interim orders in her case, a division bench headed by Justice Chandira directed the formation of two medical teams comprising government doctors to examine the four inmates in Salem and Palayamkottai jails and submit their reports to the court.
Published – 12 Nov 2026 23:34 IST