Justice To Criminal Minds

A man imprisoned in a maximum security jail has little defence when his crimes become well known within the prison community and some within that community find his presence so disgusting, even among hardened criminals that they feel justice has not been adequately done, merely to imprison a particularly noxious psychopath. Sometimes, when the circumstances permit, an expression of their outrage occurs through violence.

Selva Kumar Subbiah was sentenced to almost 25 years' imprisonment. He was a serial rapist, taking advantage of vulnerable young women who believed his promises that he could help advance their modelling careers. He drugged and raped no fewer than thirty women though it is entirely possible that there were even greater numbers who were exploited and criminally attacked by this man, entirely without remorse or conscience.

He had been arrested in 1990 after a pattern of promising young women work in modelling. At the earliest opportunity he would drug them to enable him to rape them. His atrocities didn't just stop at violating the human rights of naive young women. He committed brutal violence against his wife, beating her with pieces of lumber, throwing her down stairs, once discharging a starter pistol on her back, causing burns and psychological trauma.

A justice, sitting in judgement, considered his behaviour to be "so disgusting and so vile that no punishment ascribed by this court would do justice to you." Altogether Mr. Subbiah pleaded guilty to 70 offences relating to over 30 victims. Four of whom were in a 'relationship' with the man. His crimes represented sexual assaults and the administering of noxious substances. There were other charges outstanding, not pursued once he pleaded guilty.

Mr. Subbiah was suing Correctional Services Canada for $50,000. As well as a finding of a Charter violation in breach of his privacy and negligence of his security. He has lost his case, and is now liable to repay the government for its legal costs relating to its defence against his claims. The lawsuit resulted from two inmates in a segregated wing of Kingston Penitentiary assaulting Mr. Subbiah while he was delivering cleaning supplies.

At that time Mr. Subbiah was halfway through his sentence, at 48 years of age. It was a violent beating, but not considered to have had serious health consequences. He was treated at hospital for bruises and a few superficial wounds. A CAT scan was conducted, he was given Tylenol 3s, told to eat soft food for awhile, and then was placed back in his prison bunk the same evening.

A 50-page judicial ruling refuted Mr. Subbiah's claim the Correction Services was responsible for the attack because it had given documentation about his parole denial to a crime reporter with the Kingston Whig-Standard, which posted it online three months preceding the attack.

The report gave details about Mr. Subbiah's "denial and minimalization ... lack of victim empathy" and "indifference" to the consequences of the crimes of which he was convicted. And that he was considered to represent a continued risk to the public.

The lawsuit argued that CSC allowed the parole report to be posted online exposing Mr. Subbiah and his wife (!) to danger. His privacy was thus violated, and a law requiring the National Parole Board not to disclose information that "could reasonably be expected ... to jeopardize the safety of any person", was broken.

The judgement, in response, cites a prison security intelligence officer testifying that the crimes Mr. Subbiah had committed were common knowledge within the general inmate population. Noting that inmates did not have access to the Internet, but did have access to newspapers and television, which media would more than compensate, when a documentary about Mr. Subbiah's crimes was televised.

To round out the completion of his sentence, upon his release, scheduled for January 29, 2017, Mr. Subbiah will be deported to Malaysia. Extorting money from government sources does not always endear one to the country in which migrants tend to find haven, then proceed to commit crimes with the attitude that they are not to be held responsible for their actions.