Tamil YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar’s lawyer has filed a petition on Monday, May 6, alleging that his client’s life was in danger in the Coimbatore Central prison. Shankar was allegedly assaulted in jail, according to his lawyer S Gopalakrishnan. Due to the assault, his right hand has suffered a fracture, he said.
Shankar was lodged in the Coimbatore Central prison after his arrest on May 4 for making derogatory comments against women police personnel.
Speaking to the media, his lawyer Gopalakrishnan said, “Today when I met him in jail regarding the case, I learnt a shocking fact. After a medical examination in jail, that night he was blindfolded, made to sleep on a bench and more than 10 wardens wrapped his legs and hands in a cloth and assaulted him using a plastic pipe. Due to this, his right hand suffered a fracture.”
The lawyer said that jail authorities were refusing to provide medical treatment for his injuries. He alleged that his client had been forced to take pain killers for the injury.
Gopalakrishnan filed a petition asking the court to intervene in the matter. He urged the judge to visit Shankar personally in jail to examine his physical condition. He has also requested that Shankar be given medical treatment in a private hospital.
Gopalakrishnan also alleged that the police were torturing him out of vendetta. He said the case was deliberately registered in Coimbatore because Senthil Kumar, who was the superintendent of prison in Cuddalore when Shankar was imprisoned earlier, is now the superintendent of Coimbatore central prison.
Shankar was arrested by the Coimbatore cybercrime police for making derogatory comments against women police personnel. In an interview, he alleged that women police officers were giving sexual favours to a senior police officer for getting promoted. He said, “Does a female sub inspector fall in love with an IG because of his looks? Everywhere he (a higher ranked male officer) goes, subordinate officers who are women fall in love with him, is it because of his looks? It's because if they ‘adjust’ with him they can get a good posting, that's why.”
He was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 294(b) (Obscene acts and songs), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and under section 353 IPC (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty). He has also been booked under section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act (prohibition of Eve-Teasing) and section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act (2000) (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.)