Theni jail warders thrashed 17 escapees after recapture, alleges mother of prisoners at Madras High Court

A view of the district jail at Thekkampatti in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. File | Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

The mother of two out of the 17 prisoners who escaped from Theni district jail on October 26, 2026 has approached the Madras High Court alleging the prison warders beat all 17 inmates black and blue after their recapture within 42 hours of the escape.

Passing interim orders on her writ petition, a Division Bench of Justices A.D. Jagadish Chandira and B. Karthikeyan on Tuesday (November 3) ordered medical examination of the petitioner’s sons and two other inmates who had been specifically named by her.

On being told that all four of them had now been shifted to Salem Central Prison, the judges ordered constitution of a team of three government doctors to visit the prison along with the chairperson of the district legal services authority for examining them.

The Bench ordered that the medical team should visit the prisoners on Wednesday (November 4), examine the prisoners, provide necessary medical treatment and file a report before the court by November 6 when the writ petition would be taken up for hearing next.

K. Arumugathammal, 50, of Madurai had filed the writ petition claiming her sons K. Meenakshisundaram and K. Tirupathi were arrested by the local police on false charges of robbing ₹500 and possessing 300 grams of ganja on October 9 and lodged in the Theni district prison.

Thereafter, her sons had told her about the presence of worms in the food served to them and the prison warders taking away the articles given to the inmates by their visitors. She said, Meenakshisundaram was assaulted by the warders when he complained about it.

Due to the alleged ill-treatment, her sons and 15 other inmates had escaped from the prison. While not justifying their act of jailbreak, the petitioner, in an affidavit filed through her counsel P. Pugalendhi, said, the alleged ill-treatment and physical assault inside the prison require an impartial inquiry by an independent authority.

Claiming her sons realised the mistake of escaping from the clutches of law and surrendered before the police on October 28, the petitioner said, all the 17 recaptured prisoners were beaten up with lathis and boots by the prisoner warders at Theni district jail on October 29.

Thereafter, the recaptured prisoners were transferred to different prisons across Tamil Nadu. Her sons were sent to the Salem Central Prison along with two others, Solai Mugileswaran and Sabarinath, without providing proper medical treatment for the injuries sustained due to severe thrashing by the prison warders, she claimed.

When her plea was heard on Tuesday, Justice Chandira took note that the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority had on Monday directed the chairpersons of the district legal services authority to visit all the prisons where the 17 recaptured prisoners had been lodged at present and conduct an inquiry with them.

Therefore, the Bench directed the medical team to accompany the chairperson of the Salem district legal services authority to examine the petitioner’s sons and two other recaptured remand prisoners.

Published - November 03, 2026 03:26 pm IST