The High Court of Andhra Pradesh has directed the Sessions Judge of Vishakhapatnam to record the Statement of Dr.K Sudhakar Rao, a suspended government doctor allegedly manhandled by the Police in Public.
The High Court has further directed the Judge to personally visit the Government Hospital for Mental Health in Visakhapatnam where Dr. Rao has been admitted and to submit his statement by Thursday evening.
The bench was hearing a petition seeking an investigation into the way Dr.Rao had been mishandled by the Police and his subsequent arrest and admission to a mental hospital.
On May 16, videos of Dr Sudhakar being manhandled by the Visakhapatnam Police was widely circulated on social media which grabbed the attention of the general public.
Two months ago Dr Sudhakar Rao, a Civil Assistant surgeon, Area Hospital, Narsimhapatnam was suspended for publicly criticizing the failure of the Government to provide N-95 masks to the doctors treating COVID 19 patients.
Thereafter, he was arrested on May 16 under Section 353 of IPC for assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty and section 427 of IPC for causing mischief, where he was seen shirtless being dragged by the Police, the video of which has gone viral on social media.
Dr Rao was admitted to King George Hospital where he was found inebriated and was referred to Government Hospital for mental Health where he is undergoing treatment for acute and transient psychosis.
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association in a letter addressed to the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Reddy has condemned the mishandling of Dr Rao by the police.
-India Legal Bureau