Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
A doctor involved in the post mortem said that the victim had about 24 anti-mortem injuries including on chest, face, thigh, legs, hands and soles. Image Source: IANS
The autopsy report of the businessman confirmed that the reason behind his death was extreme level of torture. Additional SP (Rural) Ghanshyam also said that the autopsy performed by a panel of three doctors had confirmed that Balwant Singh (27) had died due to shock as a result of anti-mortem injuries
A 27 year old businessman, who was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh police in Kanpur Dehat district on the night of 12 December, died in custody the next morning after which 11 policemen, including two Station House Officers, were suspended with immediate effect. Later, five of the 11 policemen—including SHOs of Shivli and Rania police stations, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Shiv Prakash Singh—were booked under murder charges. The autopsy report of the businessman confirmed that the reason behind his death was extreme level of torture. Additional SP (Rural) Ghanshyam also said that the autopsy performed by a panel of three doctors had confirmed that Balwant Singh (27) had died due to shock as a result of anti-mortem injuries. A doctor involved in the post mortem said that the victim had about 24 anti-mortem injuries including on chest, face, thigh, legs, hands and soles. The results of the postmortem dispute the police account that Singh had complained of chest pain and passed away from a cardiac arrest.
The death of the youth has once again highlighted the evil of custodial deaths in the country. Custodial violence and custodial deaths are very serious in nature for a country like India which is the world’s largest democracy. Despite spending a lot of time and money educating police officers to use scientific methods of investigation, custodial deaths occur frequently in India. Custodial deaths include both- the deaths of accused and convicts in police custody as well as judicial custody.
In a reply to Lok Sabha in the monsoon session, MOS for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai revealed the latest data on custodial deaths which shows that the number has gone up from 1940 in 2020-21 to 2544 in 2021-22. It has been often observed in different cases that the police departments in various states of India often have to work under immense pressure and this ultimately results in frustration, anxiety, anger, PTSD, depression and other psychological conditions which cause them to act arbitrarily and this sometimes results in custodial deaths. One of the major problems with custodial violence and custodial deaths is the low conviction rate among policemen.
Other than custodial deaths, more than 2000 human rights violation cases were recorded against police between 2000 and 2018, in which only 344 policemen were convicted. One of the major reasons behind custodial deaths can be attributed to India not having any designated anti-torture legislation and non-criminalization of custodial violence. Also, India likewise falls short of implementing the largely needed jail reforms, and prisons therein continue to suffer from inadequate conditions, overcrowding, acute manpower shortages, and a lack of adequate safety measures against violence. Apart from domestic provisions to minimize custodial deaths, India is also a signatory to the 1997 UN Convention against torture but it has not been ratified yet. Some of the legal provisions to curb custodial violence in India are- section 330, 331 and 348 of the Indian penal Code (IPC), section 25 & 26 of the Indian Evidence Act, section 76 of the CrPC and section 29 of the police act.
The chart below shows the rising number of custodial deaths in India from 2016-17 to 2021-22.
Source: Press Information Bureau
The data from the above chart indicates that both the deaths in police custody as well as judicial custody are on a rise. This shows that the custodial violence has also been increasing over the years and there is an urgent need of police reforms in India. Except for the year 2019-20, the cases of custodial deaths have been constantly rising in India. Though, the National Human Rights Commission has issued guidelines from time to time to minimize custodial deaths, these guidelines have not been followed by the police departments across India. The constitution of India too contains provisions which aim at eradicating the evil of custodial death. Article 21 says that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” Also it mentions that Protection from torture is a fundamental right. And article 22 provides protection against arrest and detention in certain cases. Custodial Deaths is a gross human rights violation which needs to be tackled in a very effective way.
