Husband ‘detained’, ‘tortured’ in Russia, TN woman seeks centre’s help
The doctor was accompanying his friend to Russia since he is well-versed in the language.
A Tamil Nadu-based doctor was reportedly detained in the Russian city of Sochi in September and his wife has now approached the Centre and the state government to intervene to bring him back to India.
The doctor has been identified as Dr K Jagadeeswaran and his wife has alleged that he has been subjected to torture and humiliation in the custody for reasons unknown to them, news agency PTI reported, adding that his health has deteriorated.
Though the doctor has now been released from the custody, he lacks the documents required to travel to Moscow so that he can return to India.
'Accompanied friend to Russia'
The couple has been living in Armenia since Jagadeeswaran got a degree in medicine from a university there in 2022. Jagadeeswaran and his wife visited India in August and from there he accompanied his friend to Russia after he sought his help to accompany him since Jagadeeswaran is well-versed with the language.
“Since my husband is employed by a hospital in Armenia we were living there from 2022. It has been three years after our marriage. We just wanted to visit our families in Tamil Nadu and arrived here in August,” his wife was quoted as saying by PTI.
Jagadeeswaran's friend runs an educational consultancy in Russia and wanted him to accompany him on the tourist visa, she said.
The duo left from Chennai on September 15, his wife said, adding that the troubles began after they reached the Sochi airport where they were taken for interrogation by the immigration authorities.
Jagadeeswaran and his friend were detained after they saw his passport and learnt that he could speak well in Russian, though his friend Shekhar Manikandan was released after a week and was deported back to India. However, Jagadeeswaran was not allowed to return saying that he did not cooperate with the immigration officials, an allegation that his wife has denied.
Released from custody but unable to return
Jagadeeswaran was released after the family hired a lawyer in Sochi to take up his case, following which he was given his passport back. But the Russian authorities allegedly held back his other travel documents required to travel in Russia.
"Right now he is under the custody of Russian lawyer whom we hired. The Indian Embassy in Moscow informed us that he should reach Moscow from Sochi for a safe return to India. But, due to lack of proper documents, he is unable to go to the Indian Embassy in Moscow", she said.
She alleged that Jagadeeswaran was harassed, humiliated by the authorities. "He was not given proper food and due to this, his health condition deteriorated. His sugar levels dropped to 1 per cent," she said.
She said the family approached the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi to find a solution but it did not yield any desired results. "I had given a complaint to the BJP Tamil Nadu office here," she said.
