Misplaced Pages

Uruttal

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AleksiB 1945 (talk | contribs) at 16:42, 13 January 2025. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 16:42, 13 January 2025 by AleksiB 1945 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Uruttal or Uruttu (meaning: rolling) is a type of torture which was used in 20th century Keralam. It was particularly common during the Indian Emergency period for interrogation. In the Rajan case it was done in the Kakkayam torture camp, though it was a common torture for Naxals.

Description

Uruttu is done by undressing the person and tying their hands and legs to a bench, then with a grain threshing/crushing club called an "ulakka" placed on their thighs and 2 people on each side, the ulakka is forcefully pulled back and forth causing the thigh muscles and tendons to rip and tear, causing internal bleeding which may futher cause death. The pain itself can cause a heart attack and death. Even if the person survives the thighs will be filled with pus unabling them to walk. The bleeding is internal and externally only swelling, bruise and inflammation is seen. Cloth may be stuffed in the victims mouth to avoid screaming. This torture technique was known for a long time but became famous in the news after the Rajan case where allegedly he was tortured to death in this way.

Popular culture

Shown in the 2018 Malayalam film Kaattu Vithachavar.

References

  1. Meethal, Amiya (July 24, 2020). "How going into quarantine, 44 years ago, saved former Naxalite Kunnel Krishnan's life". The New Indian Express.
  2. Anand, G. (July 6, 2019). "Brutal interrogation system in Kerala: Modern force, medieval methods" – via www.thehindu.com.
  3. "Remand prisoner Kumar died after torture, confirms autopsy report". www.onmanorama.com.
  4. archive, From our online (July 13, 2019). "Custodial death: Panel orders re-postmortem". The New Indian Express.
This article has not been added to any content categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles. (January 2025)