A 27-year-old protester from Kerala may require surgery after suffering a perforated right eardrum during detention by Delhi Police on October 11, according to medical reports from Government Medical College, Kozhikode, and his account of the incident.
Fidal Royas, who travelled to Delhi to participate in protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, was detained at Connaught Place as police acted against attempts to mobilise protests across the capital. He alleges that officers hit, kicked and slapped him after they saw him recording a video about violence against detainees.
The medical reports, which cite his testimony of an “assault by police officers from Delhi”, state that Royas suffered injuries to his right cheek, hand, back and other parts of his body. They record damage to the eardrum in his right ear and diagnose normal to mild hearing loss linked to the perforation.
Royas has been prescribed medication and advised to attend follow-up consultations. Doctors at Government Medical College, Kozhikode, are expected to determine within two weeks whether surgery is necessary, according to the report.
Royas reached Delhi on the night of October 1 and participated in a protest on October 2 and again on October 10. He said he was detained on both those days but was not assaulted. On October 11, he was detained from Connaught Place and held in a police bus before being taken to a location near Mahipalpur, he said.
According to Royas, police officers began attacking protesters while he was speaking in a video about the violence. He said an officer told several others that he had recorded the incident. Royas alleged that five or six policemen dragged him out of the detention bus, kicked him with their boots and struck him repeatedly. He said he was slapped across the ears after being taken back inside the bus, leaving him with severe pain and a high-pitched sound in his right ear.
Purported videos of the incident show Royas being dragged out of the detention bus, according to the report. The account and videos have not been independently assessed in the supplied material.
Royas said he was released at about 7 p.m. after being taken to a ground in Mahipalpur. He was subsequently taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he said delays and the absence of specialised care at night meant that his treatment was not completed. He then returned to Kerala for further medical attention.
The case comes amid complaints from several protesters that hospitals in Delhi denied them injury reports and treatment records after detention. Others have reportedly had to seek copies of medico-legal case files and hospital documents. In some instances, protesters said they were first given reports and later told that the documents had been issued by mistake.
The supplied report does not include a response from Delhi Police to Royas’s allegations. His treatment and the decision on whether he requires surgery are the next stated developments in the case.
