Custodial deaths: India
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Custodial deaths
Custodial deaths up by 41% since 2004: Report TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Slamming the government for its inability to check custodial deaths, a human rights group on Tuesday said the number of deaths had increased by 41.66% since the UPA government came to power in 2004. This includes 70.72% increase in deaths in prison custody and 12.60% increase in deaths in police custody. Incidentally, Maharashtra has to its shame the highest number of custodial deaths followed by Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in its report ‘Torture in India 2010’ also said that among armed opposition groups, Naxalites were the worst human rights violators and regularly resorted to “violence to life and person in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture” in blatant violation of international humanitarian laws.
Elaborating on the report, ACHR director Suhas Chakma said the torture of American journalist Joel Elliot by Delhi Police in October 2009 was a case in point. “If a European could be subjected to such torture, what would happen to the common man. The government has failed to address the concerns of the aam aadmi,” he said.
Chakma said torture in India was systematic, institutionalised and rampant. The report said Maharashtra had the highest number of custodial deaths (246) in 2009 followed by UP (165), Gujarat (139), West Bengal (112) and Andhra Pradesh.
ACHR has, however, appreciated the government’s move to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill but has demanded that the proposed legislation should be put to a public debate and sent to the select parliamentary committee. “Though the Cabinet approved the decision to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, in Parliament and ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the bill is being treated as a state secret,” Chakma said.
Custodial deaths: 2012
NCRB: Assam tops 2012 list of custodial deaths
No Cops Were Chargesheeted In Those Cases
Pranjal Baruah | TNN
Assam: most custodial deaths in 2012
Guwahati: Assam recorded the highest number of custodial deaths in 2012, accounting for 11 of 38 such deaths across the country, data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said. Andhra Pradesh came second with five custodial deaths, followed by Maharastra with four deaths.
For Assam, the figures come as a shocker as NCRB did not record a single custodial death in the state in 2011. Andhra Pradesh had recorded the maximum of 11 such deaths in 2011 with Madhya Pradesh in the second spot, followed by Mahasrashtra.
“Last year, 11 persons who were in police remand died in lock-ups in Assam. Though autopsy, case registration and magisterial enquiries were conducted in all the cases, no policeman was chargesheeted,” said the NCRB report.
Under fire after the report, the Assam Police have demanded a rechecking of the figures published by NCRB. “We are concerned, but we first need to go through the details of every case,” said Assam Police chief J N Choudhury.
Former state police chief Hare Krishna Deka said, “There should be a thorough study of the cases by the CID, which should prepare a detailed report citing reasons behind the deaths and measures to prevent such incidents.”
Custodial deaths in Ghaziabad
‘Torture a common probe tactic’
Aniruddha Ghosal TNN 2013/06/16
Ghaziabad: The frequency with which such cases [of death of accused in police custody] are coming to the fore in Ghaziabad has raised serious questions about custodial deaths and violence.
According to lawyers and human rights activists, the problem lies with the use of torture as a common tool of investigation, instead of being employed in exceptional circumstances. “I think the number of people dying in police stations is on the rise, the NHRC and other legislations notwithstanding. Torture takes place when there are no witnesses around,” said K T S Tulsi, senior advocate at the Supreme Court. Experts said torture serves as a shortcut for cops, who try to solve the crime by extracting confessions or clues by roughing up the suspects.
Police themselves admit that torture is quite common, especially in the far-flung, rural police stations away from the glare of the media. “Since the accused will admit anything after a point, torture is commonly used,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.
DK Basu versus State of West Bengal,1996, Supreme Court
In 1996, the SC, in a case titled DK Basu versus State of West Bengal, set up 11 guidelines for police personnel during detention or arrest. The guidelines, meant to bring transparency and prevent human rights violation, are rarely followed. The problem is rather pronounced in UP, where custodial violence and torture is pervasive. The state registered the maximum number of custodial deaths between April 2010 and March 2011, as per an NHRC report tabled in the Rajya Sabha in December 2011. A total of 331 people died while in custody.
“Torture is conducted by police for two main reasons. They hope to obtain clues in the hope of solving the crime. Secondly, in cases where a confession made to police is acceptable in court, innocent people are often tortured to extract confessions,” said Ashish Khetan, an independent reporter who has published an investigative report on the way custodial torture was used in the investigation of three major bomb blast cases to implicate Muslim youths, and has sent a letter petition to the Bombay high court on the issue.
2013
Custodial deaths of minorities
Why victims of custodial deaths in Maharashtra only from minorities, Bombay HC asks
Rosy Sequeira,TNN | Aug 1, 2014 The Times of India
Observing that custodial deaths are occurring routinely, the high court added, "It seems to be happening only against certain persons from the minority community."
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court observed on Thursday that the victims of custodial deaths in Maharashtra appear to be only from the minority community.
A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode made the remark after they informed advocate Yug Chaudhry of their decision to appoint him as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in a case where a 23-year-old resident of Nalasopara (East) mysteriously died in Thane Central Jail.
Observing that custodial deaths are occurring routinely, the high court added, "It seems to be happening only against certain persons from the minority community." Chaudhry agreed: "I have done my research and it shows that the cases are mostly of Muslims and Dalits." The court questioned why such deaths are happening in Maharashtra. Referring to the case at hand, it said, "It is not reported as a custodial death but as a natural death." The number of such cases is unknown, the court noted.
The same bench had recently handed over the investigation into two custodial deaths to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The first case was of Agnelo Valdaris, who died in the Wadala railway police lock-up this April, and the other case was of Zulfar Shaikh, who died in the Dharavi police lock-up in December 2012. While hearing a third case—of Akash Kharade who died in the Samata Nagar police's lock-up in April this year—the bench had directed the state director-general of police to form a committee to examine cases of custodial deaths and suggest steps to prevent them.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,418 custodial deaths took place in India between 1999 and 2013, and around 23% of these (or 333) were reported from Maharashtra. For the majority of the 15 years, the state topped the custodial death charts.
The judges said on Thursday that they want to hear all custodial death cases together. They asked Chaudhry to assist the court as "we want to do something about this".
Chaudhry was appointed amicus curiae in a case in which the petition was filed in 2012 by Alia Begum Ansari. According to the petition, Ansari's son Taj Mohammad, a mobile repairer, was arrested by the Sion police on February 21, 2012, for the alleged theft of a mobile phone. He was initially kept in police custody and then transferred to judicial custody, where he died. Alleging that Taj Mohammad was tortured by prison officials, Ansari's petition sought compensation and urged the court to direct CBI to probe the case. In July 2012 Ansari passed away and since then her husband Deen Mohammad is pursuing the case.
