HC to pass orders on committee to probe functioning of Home

Chennai, Apr 1 (UNI) The Madras High Court will pass orders tomorrow, on a writ petition, seeking to constitute a Committee to go into the functioning of the 'Home for Mentally Retarded', where a nine-year-old mentally retarded boy was allegedly tortured.

Mr Justice K Mohan Ram, before whom the petition came up for hearing, reserved the orders for tomorrow after elaborate arguments from both the sides.

The writ petition was filed by one Gandhimathy, who submitted that her son, Manikandan, born with cerebral palsy and moderate mental retardation with microcephaly, was subjected to physical torture at the government-owned Home for mentally retarded and demanded constitution of a Committee, comprising a doctor, an eminent social worker and a lawyer to go into the functioning of the Home.

Ms gandhimathy, also demanded a compensation of Rs ten lakh for the inhuman treatment meted out to her son in a government Institution.

In her petition, she claimed that not only her son, 40 other young inmates of the Home were also subjected to inhuman and barbaric treatment.

She said her son was chained in the Home and his eyes had turned red. ''His pupils were discoloured and there was a large quantity of discharge. The area surrounding the eyes had also turned dark and he was not able to recognise me''.

She contended that there were burn injuries on his legs and finger tips on his right hand. There were also fresh wounds and infected injuries on his knees.

She said the doctors at the Government Opthalmic Hospital had said her son was suffering from corneal ulcer and that it was not caused due to entry of soap water into his eyes while bathing, as claimed by the Home officials.

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