E/CN.4/1993/26 page 57 250. Paul Laroche, a teacher, was arrested by soldiers on 16 October 1991. He was savagely beaten on arrest and had to be committed to the national penitentiary infirmary. Despite his precarious health, it appears that he has not received medical attention or been examined by a doctor (19 December 1991). 251. Kechnerd Pierrilis, sacristan of the St. Michel chapel, Alfred Elouis and Marc André Benoit were arrested near Germaine on 18 January 1992 by the chief of the Cazale rural section and his aides, who beat the prisoners severely before taking them to prison (30 January 1992). 252. Mr. Tessonot, principal of the Cayes Lycée, Mr. Olivier, a teacher at the Lycee, Mr. T. Nixon Bogat, the former correspondent of Radio Haiti Inter at Cayes, Father Verdier adn Mr. Guillite, deputy mayor of Cayes, were arrested by soliders at Cayes on 3 June 1992 and taken to the barracks. They were severely beaten on arrest, particularly Mr. Guillite who is said to be in very poor health (5 June 1992). 253. Twelve students, including Antoine Wesner and Marilide Noël, were arrested by the armed forces during the protests at the State University of Haiti Faculty of Agronomy on 1 December 1992. They are reported to have been taken to the anti-gang branch. One of the women students who took part in the protests was severely beaten. Her health is reported to be precarious (11 December 1992). India Information transmitted to the Government 254. By letter dated 21 August 1992 the Special Rapporteur communicated to the Government a summary of the main allegations received with regard to the practice of torture in the country as well as a number of individual cases. In addition the Special Rapporteur made two urgent appeals on behalf of persons who, according to the information received, were at risk of being tortured. a) Information transmitted to the Government with regard to the practice of torture in general 255. According to the reports received, criminal suspects form a large proportion of India's torture victims. The most common purpose of torturing criminal suspects is to extract a confession or to secure information about a crime, however petty the offence and irrespective of whether a crime has actually been committed (people can be detained for trivial reasons such as "moving suspiciously" or travelling on a train without a ticket). Even children as young as six have been arrested and allegedly tortured in connection with petty criminal offences. 256. Other victims are people arrested for their political convictions or people arrested in connection with the situations of armed conflict that prevail in the north-east, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab. In these cases torture is a means of obtaining confessions and gathering information, but it is also used as a deterrent and in reprisal for attacks by armed groups. In