§ Mr. LANSBURYasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he can now give fuller information regarding the assault by a prison warder on an Indian prisoner detained in Benares Central Prison which resulted in the death of the prisoner assaulted; and what action he intends to take in this matter?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe facts of this case are that an attack was made on the head jailor in the Benares Central Prison by a prisoner who was undergoing a sentence of rigorous imprisonment. The jailor fell down, and was about to be again attacked by his assailant when a convict warder intervened in his defence and struck the prisoner a blow on the head with his baton. The same day the prisoner died. The magisterial inquiry and the post-mortem examination which were immediately held established the fact both that the blow would not in ordinary circumstances have been expected to cause death and that the warder acted in the jailor's defence. The local Government found that no action was 37W required, and my Noble Friend accepts that date their decision.