§ 3. Mr. SAKLATVALAasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he has any information as to the present whereabouts of Mr. O. Raymond, of Chingford, Essex, an Englishman engaged in walking round the world, who 1374 was arrested last December and placed in the Bengal Presidency Gaol, and who was held on 10,000 rupees bail; if this man is still held as a prisoner; can he state the condition of his health as compared with that at the time of his arrest; and what is the nature of the charge preferred against him, the mode of trial adopted in his case, the opportunity afforded him for defence and communication with his family; and the present position of his case?
§ Earl WINTERTONProceedings were taken against this man before the Chief Presidency Magistrate in Bengal calling on him to show cause under the Code of Criminal Procedure why he should not give security for good behaviour on the ground that he had no ostensible means of subsistence and could not give a satisfactory account of himself. As he did not furnish the necessary recognisances for attendance after arrest, he was kept in custody pending the hearing of the case. This tock place on 2nd February, and as the result he was discharged, the magistrate describing him as a harmless but abnormal person who played at espionage and had continued to do so when he should have seen matters had gone beyond a joke. Mr. Raymond conducted his own defence, though asked by the Court whether he wanted legal assistance. While in custody he was permitted to write letters, and though on admission he was suffering from helminthiasis, his health improved during the period of his detention.
§ Mr. SAKLATVALAIs the Noble Lord aware that, while the man was held in custody, undue pressure was brought upon him to make him give false confessions as to his being a spy, and that, as a result of that undue pressure, he lost 12 pounds of weight and suffered in health? Do the Government now propose to give him compensation for his arrest and detention?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe information which the hon. Member has given to me in the form of a question is quite new to me. In regard to the health of this gentleman, I am informed that his period in prison improved his health.