Detention of three-year-old boy in prison: Madras HC impleads TN home secretary, DGP

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Thursday impleaded the Tamil Nadu home secretary and director general of police in a petition relating to the detention of a three-year-old boy in jail.
The division bench of justices K K Sasidharan and B Gokuldas also directed the state government to file a counter to the plea of the boy’s mother seeking an interim compensation.
M Mary, 31, had filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court bench stating that she had been living without her son a month. Mary said she, her husband Murugan, their three-year-old boy Vijay, and her sister Mariammal, and Mariammal’s husband Guruvan had been selling bangles during a temple festival at Nallur near Madurai from June 19.
On June 21, the Marthandam police arrested Murugan, Mariammal and Guruvan in connection with an old theft case. The three-old-boy was with them when the police arrested them.
The police were informed that Mary was the mother of the child. Despite this, the police produced the child in the judicial magistrate court I, Kulithurai, along with others. Magistrate P Shunmugaraj passed orders to detain the child and others at the Madurai Central Prison.
The high court on July 25 directed the police to hand over the child to his mother. After getting custody of the child, Mary filed a petition seeking interim compensation.