HC Deb 10 July 1900 vol 85 cc1113-4
CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)

On behalf of the hon. Member for East Clare, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the Honnibal shooting case, when Captain Wood, accompanied by other officers, fired into a sugar cane plantation and hit an old man; whether he is aware that a villager named Kenguri detained the officers and was afterwards sentenced to four months imprisonment on a charge of assault; whether inquiries have been made as to the injuries sustained by the old man at the hands of the officers; and whether he will lay a statement of the whole case upon the Table of the House.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, Baling

From information received from India, I understand that an officer while out shooting accidentally wounded a native with small shot; subsequently a crowd of villagers collected, and certain of them acted in such a manner as to induce the officers to bring an action for assault and wrongful restraint. I should add that the first acts after their release were to send a doctor to attend to the wounded man, and inform the collector of what had occurred. The result of the action at law was that a native was condemned to three months rigorous imprisonment and one month's simple imprisonment. An appeal has been lodged against this sentence, but has not yet been heard.