Telangana High Court
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court ordered a detailed inquiry into allegations that a physiotherapist was subjected to severe custodial torture, held illegally and then falsely implicated in a case involving a missing minor girl, registered at the Kukatpally Housing Board (KPHB) Police Station.
Justice T Madhavi Devi was hearing a petition filed by the 40-year-old physiotherapist, described in his petition as an occupational therapist, who sought a criminal case against the Station House Officer (SHO) and other KPHB Police staff, along with Rs 15 lakh in compensation, alleging that he was tortured in custody through the intervening night of August 3 and 4.
One of the allegations includes having an ointment meant for headaches applied to his private parts.
The petitioner said that at 7 pm on August 3, KPHB Police detained him without telling him the grounds for doing so. He alleged that police personnel abused and physically assaulted him in an unmonitored room, in what he says was an attempt to force him to confess to abducting the girl. He said the officers threatened to implicate him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act if he complained about the alleged torture.
He said it was only after his lawyer got involved that police named him as the first accused in the first information report (FIR) and even then, he alleged, the entry was backdated.
Following his release, he was treated at Gandhi Hospital and underwent X-rays and scans documenting his injuries before the court.
The case traces back to a 17-year-old girl, who worked as domestic help and was associated with a physiotherapy clinic, going missing. A case was registered at the KPHB Police Station on July 13 against a third person suspected of having accompanied her.
The petitioner alleged he was subsequently targeted because the girl had made a brief phone call to him asking for money shortly before she disappeared.
Taking into account the petitioner’s statements and his standing, the High Court directed the Cyberabad Police Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the allegations. It also ordered that closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage from the KPHB Police Station covering the night of August 3 and 4 be preserved and produced before the court.
It directed police not to take any action against the petitioner without following due legal process.
The petitioner’s counsel separately asked the court for a magisterial inquiry into the incident, and for the investigation in the abduction case against the petitioner to be transferred to an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police from a different police commissionerate.
This post was last modified on August 30, 2026 8:54 am