Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/India.htm
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CAUTION: The following links have
been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in India. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent
countries and/or regions. Meanwhile,
check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: India U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/india/
[accessed 25 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT The law prohibits
torture, but there were reports that police forces allegedly employed such
practices. Police beatings of
prisoners resulted in custodial deaths (see section 1.a.). In August 2019
CHRI’s Inside Haryana Prisons publication reported more than 47 percent of
inmates were victims of torture and inhuman treatment during police remand. On August 28, AII
alleged that members of the Delhi police committed human rights violations
during February riots in Delhi. The report documented complicity with
violence, torture of arrested protesters while in custody, and excessive use
of force. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Physical
Conditions: Prisons were often severely overcrowded, and food, medical care,
sanitation, and environmental conditions frequently were inadequate. Potable
water was not universally available. Prisons and detention centers remained
underfunded and understaffed, and lacked sufficient infrastructure. Prisoners
were sometimes physically mistreated. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES Due to delays in
completion of repatriation procedures, foreign nationals often remained incarcerated
beyond the expiration of their sentences. The PSI 2019 revealed there were
765 prisoners belonging to the “other” category. According to experts these
were most likely prisoners who completed their sentence but were yet to be
released. This included approximately 250 Rohingya
arrested for illegal entry, of whom 150 had reportedly completed their
sentences. Hundreds of Police
Killings in India, but No Mass Protests Jeffrey Gettleman and Sameer Yasir, New
York Times, New Delhi, 20 August 2020 www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/world/asia/india-police-brutality.html?campaign_id=9 [accessed 20 August
2020] A father and son
were hauled into a small police station in the southern Indian town of Sathankulam in June after arguing with police officers.
When friends and family members went to the station, they heard screams
emanating from inside, growing louder as night fell. The next afternoon,
the two men, Ponraj Jeyaraj,
58, and Beniks Jeyaraj,
31, stumbled outside surrounded by officers, blood dripping down the backs of
their legs. They had clearly been tortured in police custody, family members
and lawyers in the town said. “Please, find a way
to get us bail,” Ponraj Jeyaraj
begged his sister, Jaya Joseph, as he was taken to a hospital, she recalled.
She said her brother’s last words to her were: “We will not survive another
day.” Father and son died
hours apart, from severe internal injuries, a few days later. The use of torture
is explicitly banned in India, but in police stations, it happens all the
time, activists said. There’s even a common euphemism for it: third-degree
interrogation. First-degree
interrogation is hard questioning. Second-degree is physical assault,
including slapping and beating with sticks. And third-degree
interrogation, according to rights activists and several police officers who
spoke on condition of anonymity and acknowledged its use, involves physical
torture, like what the Jeyarajes appear to have
been subjected to in June. Family members,
including Ms. Joseph, Ponshekar Nadar,
a son-in-law of Ponraj Jeyaraj,
and two others who saw the dead bodies, said that
large pieces of skin had been ripped off the men’s buttocks. They also said
that doctors at the hospital told them that both men had suffered grave
internal injuries, possibly from blunt objects being thrust inside their
rectums. UP cops ‘thrash’
migrants, 12000 protest Piyush Srivastava, The
Telegraph, Lucknow, 19 May 2020 [accessed 19 May
2020] More than 12,000
migrant workers from Bihar gathered [to return home] on a highway in the
western Uttar Pradesh district of Saharanpur on Sunday, alleging police
torture at a shelter home and
demanding they [the migrants,] be allowed to walk the 1,200-odd kilometres home. “This morning, 10
policemen arrived and beat us with batons. They told us we were a blot on the
face of the country and should die. So we left the place and decided to resume
our foot journey,” said Lal Bahadur, 25, who had been stopped in Saharanpur
on May 2 while walking home to Siwan, Bihar, from
Patiala in Punjab. Dalits’ ‘torture’
in custody: Two cops suspended in Punjab Manish Sirhindi, Times of India, 9 May 2020 [accessed 10 May
2020] When the two men
went to the police station to file a complaint against four policemen who had
allegedy taken away Rs
20,000 from them on Wednesday, they were confined there. The complainant also alleged that the
policemen tortured Simranjeet and Lakhbir and even poured petrolon
the former's private parts. Lakhbir sustained minor injuries, but Simranjeet
had to be admitted to Malerkotia Civil hospital. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/india/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 17 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? Torture, abuse, and
rape by law enforcement and security officials have been reported. A bill
intended to prevent torture remains pending. Abuses against prisoners,
particularly minorities and members of the scheduled castes, by prison staff
are common. Figures reported to the National Human Rights Commission suggest
that 1,966 deaths occurred in judicial or police custody in 2018. Security forces
battling regional insurgencies continue to be implicated in extrajudicial
killings, rape, torture, kidnappings, and destruction of homes. While the
criminal procedure code requires that the government approve the prosecution
of security force members, approval is rarely granted, leading to impunity. BSF’s torture
condemnable The Daily Star, 12
May 2019 www.thedailystar.net/editorial/news/bsfs-torture-condemnable-1736077 [accessed 12 May
2019] We condemn the
brutal torture of a Bangladeshi man by India’s Border Security Force (BSF).
As this newspaper reported yesterday, Md Azim
Uddin, after having illegally trespassed into India to smuggle cattle into
Bangladesh, was caught by the BSF and tortured for three days. And at one
point during the torture, BSF men used pliers to pull out all 10 of his
fingernails. While we cannot condone the practice of illegally trespassing
into another country, torturing a detainee is completely unacceptable and a
reprehensible crime. Ganderbal family alleges
torture, police says can't tolerate such incidents Javid Ahmad, Rising
Kashmir, Srinagar, 10 November 2018 www.risingkashmir.com/news/ganderbal-family-alleges-torture-police-says-cant-tolerate-such-incidents-337345.html [accessed 11
November 2018] On last Tuesday Shabir Ahmad Raina was sleeping at his uncle’s house at Warapahow in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal
district when Army, according to the family, barged into their house, broke
window glasses and dragged four relatives out of the house. “In the vehicle,
the forces pulled the beard of elders (Gani and Sunaullah) and burnt it. The forces stopped at the
University gate (Kashmir University) and threatened to shoot us,” Shabir said while withering in pain. “They brought cold
water and kerosene or petrol and the put a curtain. I was suffocating and
begged them to let me free. Some four men came and tied me with ropes. They
sat on our legs, chest and started to pour kerosene cum water into my mouth
and simultaneously asked me to speak. Only God could hear our shouts there,”
he narrates. Murder
accused cries cop torture as victim returns alive Express News
Service, Bargarh, 12 July 2018 [accessed 13 July
2018] A day after
19-year-old youth Jitu Dansana
of Piplipali village in Paikmal
returned home after being presumed
dead, one of the two charged with murdering him accused the police of torture
to extract confession on Wednesday.Halu Gurla, the 22-year-old accused of Bisipada
in Bargarh town, said police picked up him while he
was sleeping in his house and took him to a police station in Sambalpur where
he was physically tortured. Later, the cops took him to Padampur
police station where he was again tortured both physically and mentally, Halu claimed. Under duress and
frightened over the attitude of police, Halu confessed
to killing Jitu. “I had to languish in jail for
about six months for the crime which I did not commit. My family members had
to struggle hard for my release from jail. They borrowed money from people
for my bail and the debt is yet to be repaid,” he said. We
were tortured with electric shocks for a confession, say youths ‘wrongly
held’ for rape and murders Gayas Eapen,
Times News Network (The Times of India) TNN, Mewat,
11 Mar 2018 [accessed 25 March
2018] The four youths,
who had been picked up by the Haryana Police in connection with the Dingerheri gang rapes and murders in 2016, returned home
to Mewat’s Mohammadpur Ahir village on Friday after the Punjab and Haryana high
court granted them interim bail on Wednesday. But the memories of
the 19 months that the four spent in jail still haunt Sandeep, Amarjeet, Karamjeet and Rahul.
They still shiver when they recount the “physical and mental torture” they
faced in police custody. “After the arrest, we were kept separately, beaten
up and tortured. Electric current was passed through our body, we were waterboarded,” alleged Amarjeet. “Though physical
torture ended after we were moved to Bhondsi jail,
other inmates would intimidate us there,” he added. Karamjeet
said, “I still have the marks of police torture on my thighs. They beat us to
make us confess to the crime we did not commit.” Forcing
confession by torture rampant in country, first of its kind report reveals Harish V Nair &
edited by Manas Joshi, India Today, New Delhi, 10
December 2017 The Milli Gazette, 8 MAY 2015 indiatoday.intoday.in/story/torture-confession-accused-police-judiciary/1/1106930.html [accessed 12
December 2017] A first-of-its kind
report compiled after interviewing 60 former judges of the Supreme Court,
including eight Chief Justices, has concluded that the country's criminal
justice system is in crisis owing to rampant torture of the accused to force
confessions, fabrication of evidence and wrongful convictions. A staggering 1,575
people died in police custody in the country between 2001 and 2016, and
16,000 were injured. But less than 50% of custodial deaths led to a case being
registered, NCRB figures say. Some 74 deaths in police custody have been
recorded in India so far this year itself. Though 38 judges
confirmed that torture was rampant, their views are divided One group felt
torture is a necessary evil, while the other opined torture is inherently
wrong and had no place within law. Five out of 12 former judges justifying
torture said police resorted to torture because probe agencies work under
strenuous conditions, without adequate time and independence to investigate
cases. Aslamuddin,
18, a Student Tortured in a Police Station in Kerala Asian Human Rights
Commission - Urgent Appeals Programme, Urgent
Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-058-2015 The Milli Gazette, 8 MAY 2015 www.milligazette.com/news/12330-aslamuddin-18-a-student-tortured-in-a-police-station-in-kerala [accessed 17 May
2015] CASE NARRATIVE - Mr. Aslamuddin is an 18-year-old student of Venmanad School in a town called Pavaratty
in Kerala. On 5th April 2015 at about 11 a.m., Aslamuddin
was riding his bike through the Chuku Bazaar Road
along with his friends, Avinash and Jamshir. Having two or more pillion riders on a bike is
an offence under the Motor Vehicles Act of India. The police stopped Aslamuddin for riding pillion on a bike with his two
friends. The police officer who stopped Aslamuddin
seized his license and asked him to report to Pavaratty
police station along with his bike for payment of fine. The next day,
following the instruction, at about 11:30 a.m., Aslamuddin
reported in the police station with the bike and along with his friend Avinash. While Avinash waited
outside the Station building, Aslamuddin went
inside the Police Station. Sub Inspector Mr. M.K. Ramesh asked Aslamuddin why he had come to the Station. Aslamuddin replied that he had come to collect his licence and pay the fine for riding pillion on a bike.
The Sub Inspector, however, held Aslamuddin by his
neck and pushed him into the Writer’s room inside the Police Station. The
officer held Aslamuddin against the wall and
elbowed him on his back. The officer elbowed Aslamuddin
four times. Then the officer released his grip, and as Aslamuddin
raised his head, the officer slapped Aslamuddin
four to five times. Then the officer asked Aslamuddin
to stand near the lock-up room entrance inside the Station. At about 4 p.m.,
the police allowed Aslamuddin to call his family, to
request them to come to the Police Station and take him on bail. But, before
the family arrived, the police took Aslamuddin to Chavakkad Taluk Hospital. On the way to the hospital, the
Sub Inspector threatened Aslamuddin, warning him
that he should not mention the torture to the doctor. However at the
hospital, Aslamuddin informed the doctor in detail
that he was tortured and how he was tortured at the Police Station. The Sub
Inspector was not pleased with Aslamuddin’s
conduct. At about 5 p.m., Aslamuddin was back at
the Police Station and the officer immediately started slapping Aslamuddin for reporting torture to the doctor. In
another 30-45 minutes, after the Sub Inspector had tortured Aslamuddin, the young man was finally allowed to go. The next morning, Aslamuddin started coughing and spitting blood. Aslamuddin’s family, concerned about his health, admitted
him in the Chavakkad Taluk Hospital. Aslamuddin received treatment for the next four days and
was discharged from the hospital on the 10thApril 2015. Cops ‘torture’ teen
with cigarette butts Nazar Abbas, Times of
India, MORADABAD, 21 March 2015 [accessed 6 April
2015] The two constables
posted at Kathghar police station have allegedly
detained an 18-year-old in police lock-up and tortured him by pressing
cigarette butts on his body. He was allegedly made to suffer as he had
refused to give them free cigarettes and gutka. The
teen was booked for breach of peace. Police Arrest,
Torture 20 Christian Evangelists Anto Akkara,
World Watch Monitor, 5 March 2015 www.charismanews.com/world/48607-police-arrest-torture-20-christian-evangelists [accessed 6 April
2015] "When we
reached the place we were staying, they started abusing us and called the
police again," Raj said. "The police came and took us to the police
station in two jeeps. They made us stretch out our palms and beat us severely
with wooden lathis," sticks often carried by
Indian police. "Those who pulled their hands back after the first
beating came in for more beatings. Many of us have bruises and blood clots on
our palms six days later." Political
parties decry inhuman torture of youth by Mahoba
police WebIndia123,
Lucknow, 27 Jan 2015 news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20150127/2530814.html [accessed 28 March
2015] Three policemen,
including a sub-inspector, were suspended and a case lodged against them
Tuesday for allegedly torturing a youth and injecting petrol in his private
parts at a police outpost in Mahoba district’s City
Kotwali police station. The victim’s
father, Daya Shankar Gupta, alleged that policemen
had picked up his son — Dependra Gupta alias Vicky
(26) — on January 22 and tortured him, forcing to return the money he had
borrowed from his friend. The policemen also demanded money for his release,
he added. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or
www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] INDIA IMPUNITY - Proposed police
reforms have also languished even as police continue to commit human rights
violations with impunity. These include arbitrary arrest and detention,
torture, and extrajudicial killings. In several states, police are poorly
trained and face huge caseloads. No indictment
despite city police facing repeated charges of custodial torture Imran Gowhar, The Hindu, 25 August 2014 [accessed 16
September 2014] CASES IN 2013 JANUARY: The HSR Layout police detained Lokanath Bharathi, a software
engineer, and allegedly tortured him for two days, following a complaint from
his landlord MARCH: Manjunath, a shopkeeper in
K.G. Nagar, committed suicide after hewas detained
and allegedly tortured by the police to extract information pertaining to a
woman's murder near his shop MAY: A
jeweller was picked up by the Ashok Nagar police
and allegedly tortured for two days suspecting that he had stolen a mobile
phone of his customer Teen tortured for
‘filming’ cops beating thief Vijay V Singh, Times
News Network (The Times of India) TNN, 8 Apr 2014 [accessed 9 April
2014] Wajid said he was going
to work at around 10.30am on March 31, when he saw a small crowd watching
three plainclothes policemen beating up a handcuffed thief. Wajid said the cops felt he was trying to capture the
action on his mobile, and assaulted him. Wajid said
he told them he hadn't taken photos and requested them to check his mobile
but they took him to Wadala Truck Terminal police
station. In lock-up, Wajid claimed he was subjected
to third-degree torture and fainted, but the torture continued as he regained
consciousness. He said police also asked if he had any terror links. He was
granted bail by the court on April 1. Wajid, who suffered
severe internal injuries to his private parts, was treated at the Sion
Hospital OPD as he complained of being unable to pass urine, but had to be
admitted after complications on April 6. His medical report said he sustained
blunt trauma on his abdomen and chest, probably caused due to being beaten by
belts and lathis. The report also said a tooth
cleaning stick was inserted in his anus and he was unable to walk. Report details
Indian security forces use of torture against Kashmiri people Wasantha Rupasinghe,
World Socialist Web Site, 23 July 2019 www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/07/23/kash-j23.html [accessed 31 July
2019] Titled Torture:
Indian State’s Instrument of Control in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir, the report is, in its own words, “the first ever
comprehensive report on the phenomenon of torture in Jammu and Kashmir
perpetrated by the Indian State from 1990 onwards.” The 550-page
document was published by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons
(APDP) and the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS). It gives a
detailed account of cruelties practiced by Indian security forces in J&K,
through an examination of 432 individuals who were subjected to various types
of torture, including water-boarding, beatings with iron rods and leather
belts, and electric shocks to the genitals. 'Still
have nightmares of torture': Victims of Nerella
caste violence seek justice Dr. Nimeshika Jayachandran & Shilpa S Ranipeta, The News
Minute, 5 December 2018 [accessed 8 December
2018] On July 4, 2017, SI
Ravinder from the crime branch, along with 10-15
policemen allegedly came to their houses and detained them without even
telling them why they were being taken. “They took us to
some room where they stripped us down to our undergarments and chained us so
we don’t run away. There was a window with railings, like the one you see
here. They made us put our hands through that, tied our arms and weighed down
our feet as well. They would lash us with rubber whips. One lash with that
was enough for us to lose our senses. After a point, we couldn’t feel
anything and eventually lose consciousness.
They would also spread our legs and tie our feet to a chain from the
roof, gag us and continuously hit us, while splashing water on us. Our arms
couldn’t reach our feet so there was nothing we could do. They would also
lock our feet on a wooden slab, tie our hands behind the back, gag us, then
stand on our thighs and continuously lash us. We couldn’t even scream. Just
tears rolling down our eyes as we experienced excruciating pain,” Harish says
as he recounts the horrors they went through. They were also
abused with caste-ist slurs. “They abused us saying
‘how dare you question the powerful men of Nerella.
Don’t you know these are government lorries. Do you know these are TRS
lorries?’ Only when they abused us did we come to know why we were detained,”
Banaiah says. Harish claims this
happened for four days after which they were taken to a court, but were
allegedly warned not to say anything or face death. Testimonies
of Torture Victims Lay Bare India's Claim of It 'Being Alien to Our Culture' Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar, The Wire, New Delhi, 29 October 2018 [accessed 29 October
2018] One of these
victims was Wahid Shaikh, an accused in the 7/11 or July 11, 2006 Mumbai
train blasts case. Shaikh spoke about how the intensity of torture had
gradually increased as he was abused, his religion was spoken ill of, he was
beaten, kept naked, his legs were split wide and he was water-boarded and
given electric shocks. All this, he said, to make him sign some confessional
statements. Similarly, Bandu Mashram, who was an
accused in the Chandrapur Maoist case, said the police
wanted him to confess that he was a Maoist sympathiser
and so, under instructions from the Maharashtra police officer who was
supervising the case, he used to be stripped and beaten. “I also brought this
torture to the notice of the court, but no action was taken,” he said. Firoz Deshmukh, an accused in the Aurangabad arms haul case,
also testified about how he was made to walk on torn pieces of the Quran to
break his spirit. He also mentioned how he knew of others who had been given
electric shocks in their private parts. Former chairperson
of the Law Commission of India, Justice (Retd.)
A.P. Shah, spoke about how “torture was now not only an integral part of
policing culture, in terror offences it is a centrepiece”. Justice Shah said
the law has been designed this way and therefore police torture is endemic in
India. He lamented that “some judges are convinced that without torture,
evidence gathering and subsequent conviction is not possible. This acceptance
of torture in India is an open secret.. As part of this, any such treatment
meted out to certain communities is accepted as par for the course for
justice and safety of the country.” Kerala
CM Pinarayi Vijayan warns
of strict action against custodial torture Express News
Service, Malappuram, 6 May 2018 [accessed 6 May
2018] Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has lashed out
at the police force and warned strong action against custodial torture by the
police officers. While inaugurating the new DySP office
at Tirur on Saturday, the Chief Minister said
recent incidents have tarnished the image of the police force, referring to
the controversial death of a youth under the police custody in the Varappuzha police station. Pinarayi
added the Kerala police force is well known for its efficiency. Claiming the state
government will take strong and immediate action on the issue, he said murder
cases have been registered against the police officers who are involved in
the incident. “There will be no delay in taking action against the culprits
behind the custodial torture,” he said. Limbs
lost to army torture, Handwara man loses faith in
humanity Asim Shah, Kashmir
Reader, 26 November 2017 kashmirreader.com/2017/11/26/limbs-lost-to-army-torture-handwara-man-loses-faith-in-humanity/ [accessed 26
November 2017] For ten days, Nazir says, the roller torture was done at least for
three hours daily. In between the
torture, the strong voice of a Major Multani would
mark a brief pause. “He would utter
say the same line, while sipping tea behind me ‘Confess that you have links
with militants and you have a gun to surrender’. After a brief pause, army
men would again start torturing me,” Nazir said. At the Langate army camp, Nazir says,
torture didn’t stop, “it was rather “enhanced” “Every day I was beaten with sticks. My
legs were stretched in opposite directions to the extent that I was not able
to breathe with pain. Electric shocks were given to my body including in
private parts, a spiky iron rod was rolled over my legs and hot water spilled
over my wounds,” he said. “One day Major Multani pushed my left hand into the bukhari
(fire stove) burning my four fingers completely.” When his condition deteriorated and puss
started oozing out from injuries, Nazir says, he was
taken to Baramulla army hospital and from there to military hospital at Badamibagh, Srinagar where he remained under treatment
for 12 days. “I was treated but my
condition was not improving, instead it worsened. Then I was thrown outside
the camp during night on the road to die. Pradhyumn murder: Conductor
reaches home, family narrates tale of torture Rediff News, 23 November
2017 [accessed 23
November 2017] Bus conductor Ashok
Kumar's family has alleged that the police authorities beat him up, hung him
upside down, tortured him and even sedated him to confess to the murder of
seven-year-old Pradhyumn Thakur at Gurugram's Ryan International School. Hyderabad:
Man sends torture wound clip from police station toilet P Pavan, Ahmedabad Mirror, 20 Nov 2017 ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/hyderabad-man-sends-torture-wound-clip-from-police-station-toilet/articleshow/61716044.cms [accessed 20
November 2017] Hyderabad police
came under sharp criticism after a history-sheeter, allegedly detained
illegally for three days, secretly sent a video showing ‘third degree’
torture wounds to family and friends through WhatsApp. The video was apparently
shot from inside a bathroom at S R Nagar police station on Saturday. In the
video, which has since gone viral, the man, known as Tannu,
claims police tortured him in an effort to force him to admit to a crime he
had not committed. According to sources, he was picked up by the cops on
Thursday night for allegedly drinking with friends at a public place. No
sooner had the video gone viral than the police produced him before the
magistrate. School van staff
accuses police of torture Amritsar, Hindustan
Times, 9 August 2014 www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/amritsar/school-van-staff-accuses-police-of-torture/article1-1250166.aspx [accessed 10 August
2014] [accessed 27 July 2017] In a complaint to
the PHRO, van driver Harmesh Singh, helper Gurmeet Singh and another driver Gurinder
Singh alleged, "As soon as the information came that the boy had been
kidnapped, the police picked us and after initial questioning took us to
Civil Lines. There we were tortured and subjected to electric shocks on
private parts and ears. We were so badly beaten up that our legs got
affected." The three, claiming
that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping, have demanded strict action
against the policemen who tortured them. All three who are hospitalised underwent a medical examination after they
approached the PHRO on Saturday. Thane tribal boy
dies of police 'torture' Press Trust of
India, Thane, 12 July 2014 [accessed 12 July
2014] A 16-year-old
tribal boy, who was allegedly tortured by some police personnel attached to a
police station in Bhiwandi town in Thane district
last month, died at a hospital today.
The victim, identified as Babu Thackeray,
was allegedly beaten up by the constables, attached to Nizampura
police station on the night of June 20.
He attempted suicide at his house in Mithpada
locality the next day fearing that he would be subject to torture again, and
his condition deteriorated since then. The police let the
boy go home only on the condition that he should report to the police station
next morning at about 11 am for further probe, the FIR by his brother said. 2 Thane cops held
for teen’s torture, victim still critical Pradeep Gupta, Times
News Network (The Times of India) TNN, BHIWANDI, 25 June 2014 [accessed 24 June
2014] The Thane crime
branch on Tuesday arrested the two constables of the Nizampura
police station who allegedly tortured a 16-year-old labourer
to force him to confess to stealing one kg gold. The condition of the victim,
who is in ICU, continues to be critical. The victim's family
has demanded maximum punishment for the accused, who had beaten him up,
leading to his suicide attempt. Minor critical
after cop torture Thane, The Asian
Age, 23 June 2014 www.asianage.com/india/minor-critical-after-cop-torture-641 [accessed 23 June
2014] On June 20, at about
11 am, he was taken away by two plainclothes policemen to Nizampura
police station in Bhiwandi. According to a
complaint by the teenager’s elder brother Chandra Thackeray, his brother Babu Sunil Thackeray (16) had injuries all over his body
and he said that he was mercilessly tortured in custody by policemen, after
being accused of stealing 2 kg of gold. The police let the
boy go home on the condition that he should report to the police station next
morning at about 11 am for further probe, the FIR by his brother said. However, the boy
tried to hang himself, but neighbours saved his
life. He has been now been admitted to the Sainath
Hospital at Bhiwandi and is reported to be
critical. Odisha activist
seeks NHRC action on cops in custodial torture case Odisha Sun Times
Bureau, Bhubaneswar, 16 June 2014 odishasuntimes.com/63584/odisha-activist-seeks-nhrc-action-cops-custodial-torture-case/ [accessed 17 June
2014] The petitioner has
alleged that after arresting them, the police took the two accused to Talcher police station and beat them mercilessly before
taking them to Kishan Nagar police station in the
midnight in a Scorpio vehicle. On reaching Kishan Nagar police station, the accused were soundly thrashed
by th epolicemen on duty
as well as some people who were waiting near the police station. To escape
from the brutality of the police, both the accused persons consumed phenyl
which was kept inside the lockup, Das has alleged. The activist said
when the police noticed them consuming phenyl, it rushed them to the hospital
at Raghunathpur at midnight. After the condition of
both deteriorated, the doctor there referred them to SCB Medical College and
Hospital at Cuttack. Torture on
schoolboy in police custody -- Probe finds allegations true Jhalakathi. The Daily Star, 25
April 2014 www.thedailystar.net/country/torture-on-schoolboy-in-police-custody-21546 [accessed 27 April
2014] www.thedailystar.net/torture-on-schoolboy-in-police-custody-21546 [accessed 27 July
2017] On March 28 and 29,
Russel, 15, a SSC examinee of Rajapur Pilot High
School was brutally tortured in the police custody and he was forced to marry
a girl. Later, Russel was
produced before a mobile court, led by Executive Magistrate Mahabuba Aktar, which sentenced
him to six months' imprisonment. Villagers allege
‘torture’ by AR in Manipur Nagaland Post, Imphal, 16 March 2014 [accessed 17 March
2014] Six villagers
allegedly picked up by the Assam Rifles troops in a follow up action to PLA’s
March 11 deadly ambush were released after subjected to torture. Security
force has also reportedly prevented two severely wounded villagers from being
hospitalized, a report received here said Sunday. The report of
alleged tortured of six villagers was reported days after a team of
representatives of civil organizations led by Chandel
Naga Peoples Organisation. Prez award for cop
facing torture trial Deccan Chronicle, 15
Nov 2013 www.deccanchronicle.com/131115/news-current-affairs/article/prez-award-cop-facing-torture-trial [accessed 16 Nov
2013] It all started with
Sunish, a CPM sympathizer, and friends at Malayinkeezhu blocking SI B Vinod as he tried to leave
after his vehicle knocked down two bikers on August 19, 2001. Four days later
Vinod and party allegedly assaulted Sunish. He was
injured in the left eye, was in hospital for 32 days, out of which 28 days in
remand. Between this
incident and another brutal attack on December 26, 2009, when his ribs were
broken in custody, Sunish has been on the run, threatened,
intimidated, set up in cases at different police stations and even mugged. Sunish would still be a
dubious character, as made out by the police, had it not been for a lady
magistrate, who saw his plight and ordered that the police officers, who
sought his remand, be booked for torture in 2009. Torture in police
custody: Youth gets Rs 50,000 compensation A Subramani, Times News Network (The Times of India) TNN,
Chennai, 21 Sept 2013 articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-21/chennai/42272396_1_police-custody-police-excesses-eight-police-personnel [accessed 21 Sept
2013] [accessed 27 July
2017] G Barathi had moved the high court saying a group of about
eight police personnel barged into her house and picked up her son Arun in the middle of the night on June 16, 2012.
According to her, he was kept in illegal confinement in the three police
stations, apparently in connection with an unsolved theft case. By the time
she came to know about his whereabouts, he had been lodged in the Saidapet sub-jail. She found injury and burn marks all
over his body. On inquiry, her son gave her graphic description of how police
hung him by a rope and beat him with lathi and
rods, and subjected to other forms of third degree torture. When the matter
first came up for admission, Justice K Chandru had
summoned the youth to the court and then ordered medical treatment. He also
asked the principal district judge of Tiruvallur
district judge to hold an inquiry and file a report. Medical report as well
as the judicial inquest confirmed torture by police while Arun
was in custody. For 'torture to
extract a confession', 3 cops face arrest Santosh Singh, The
Indian Express, Patna, 21 March 2013 www.indianexpress.com/news/for-torture-to-extract-a-confession-3-cops-face-arrest/1090989/ [accessed 21 March
2013] On the night of
September 7, Rustum said, he was called again to
the police station where all three officers were present. They allegedly
wanted him to become a witness in a case involving the murder of Vishwanath Gupta, a fruit seller. The alleged torture
began when he refused. He alleged they
inserted a funnel in the rectal opening and poured petrol through it.
"After the inhuman act, Rustum became
unconscious," reads the court order. "When he regained his senses,
the same act was repeated by the three cops. The police officers threatened
to kill him again." On September 8,
police took him to a magistrate to record his statement about his supposed
involvement in the murder. The next day, when he narrated his story, the court
ordered immediate treatment and asked a team of doctors for an injury report.
The report found pilonidal sinus, a condition that can be caused by an
injury, or a latent problem that may be precipitated by injury. In the
gluteal region (around the buttocks) are bullous eruptions, which can be
caused by exposure to corrosive chemicals such as petrol. Rustum
remains on medication. Man alleges torture
by police, probe ordered The Indian Express,
New Delhi, 18 Jan 2013 www.indianexpress.com/news/man-alleges-torture-by-police-probe-ordered/1061006/1 [accessed 18 January
2013] In his letter,
Singh claimed that he was called to the police station at 5 pm on January 14,
and asked to sign on papers he wasn’t allowed to read. Later, he was taken to
another room where he was made to “lie down naked and tortured”. All the
while, he claimed police personnel kept trying to extract a confession from
him. IAC volunteer
alleges police torture The Hindu,
Bangalore, January 15, 2013 www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/iac-volunteer-alleges-police-torture/article4307771.ece [accessed 16 January
2013] THREATENING COOK - The police
version is that Loknath Bharti (25), who was
staying in a paying guest accommodation on Sarjapur
Road, was picked up by the H.S.R. Layout police following a complaint by Ravinder Aneja, the owner of
the PG accommodation. Mr. Aneja had alleged that
Mr. Bharti threatened the cook at the PG accommodation with a knife during a
quarrel. The police on
Saturday picked up Mr. Bharti and took him to the station where they
allegedly beat him up. They later booked him for criminal intimidation and
produced him before a magistrate at his house who remanded him in judicial
custody on Saturday. Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 16 January
2013] The Indian government
failed to hold rights violators accountable or to carry out effective
policies to protect vulnerable communities. The government is yet to repeal
the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, allowing soldiers to operate with
impunity. It has not reformed the police despite allegations of torture and
unlawful killings. The government adopted measures to compensate rape victims
and no longer endorses the humiliating “finger” test to investigate rape
cases. “Honor killings,” dowry deaths, and sexual violence remain problems.
Internationally, India let opportunities pass to support independent
investigations into human rights abuses abroad during its tenure at the UN
Security Council and the Human Rights Council. Police Abuse And
Killings Of Street Children In Human Rights Watch
Children's Rights Project, November 1996 www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1996/India4.htm [accessed 24 May
2011] AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 BACKGROUND Universal Periodic
Review in May; the state did not accept recommendations to facilitate a visit
by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and by the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, or to hold its security forces to account for human rights
violations. Parliament amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on
financing terrorism but failed to bring it in line with international human
rights standards. IMPUNITY Impunity for human
rights violations remained pervasive, with no repeal of the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act or the Disturbed Areas Act. Both Acts grant excessive
powers to security forces in specified areas, and provide them with de facto
impunity for alleged crimes. Protests against these laws were held in Jammu
and Kashmir and the north-east, with concerns expressed by the UN Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions during his visit
to India in March, and by the UN Human Rights Council in September. Suspected
perpetrators of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions in Assam
(in 1998 and 2001), Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab (during 1984-1994) and other
states, remained at large. In January, the
Supreme Court ordered new investigations into 22 alleged extrajudicial
executions in Gujarat, mostly of Muslim youth, during 2003-2006. In April, the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) closed its inquiry into alleged
unlawful killings and mass cremations by police during the Punjab conflict,
without recommending criminal investigations. It awarded 279.4 million Indian
rupees (US$5.78 million) in compensation to the families of 1,513 of the
2,097 dead. The findings of a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the
killings remained unpublished. During 2007-2012,
the NHRC distributed cash compensation to the families of 191 out of 1,671 people
killed in the country, after determining they had been extrajudicially
executed. Criminal investigations into the majority of such killings failed
to make serious progress. JAMMU AND KASHMIR Widespread impunity
prevailed for violations of international law in Kashmir, including unlawful
killings, extrajudicial executions, torture and the enforced disappearance of
thousands of people since 1989. The majority of cases of more than 100 youths
shot dead by the police and other security forces during protests in the
summer of 2010 were not fully investigated. In December, a
report by two Srinagar-based human rights organizations on 214 cases of
enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial executions and other violations
since 1989, alleged that the authorities were unwilling to investigate
serious charges against 470 security personnel and 30 state-sponsored militia
members. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/india [accessed 16 January 2013] LONG URL
ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 12 May
2020] Police often
torture or abuse suspects to extract confessions or bribes. Custodial rape of
female detainees continues to be a problem, as does
routine abuse of ordinary prisoners, particularly minorities and members of
the lower castes. The Asian Centre for Human Rights reported in 2008 that
7,468 people have died in custody over the past five years, nearly all as a
result of torture. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), created in
1993, is headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and handles roughly 80,000
complaints each year. However, while it monitors abuses, initiates
investigations, makes independent assessments, and conducts training sessions
for the police and others, its recommendations are often not implemented and
it has few enforcement powers. The commission also lacks jurisdiction over
the armed forces, which severely hampers its effectiveness. Security forces
continue to be implicated in disappearances, extrajudicial killings, rape,
torture, arbitrary detention, and destruction of homes, especially in the
context of ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, the tribal belt, and several
northeastern states. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61707.htm [accessed 16 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61707.htm [accessed 4 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits torture and generally did not allow for confessions extracted by
force to be admissible in court; however, authorities often used torture
during interrogations to extort money and as summary punishment. The ACHR alleged
that deaths in custody were a severe problem and that police regularly used
torture. Because many alleged torture victims died in custody, and other
victims were afraid to speak out, there were few firsthand accounts. Marks of
torture, however, were often found on the bodies of deceased detainees. The
prevalence of torture by police in detention facilities throughout the
country was reflected in the number of deaths in police custody (see section
1.a.). Police and jailers typically assaulted new prisoners for money and
personal articles. In addition, police commonly tortured detainees during
custodial interrogation. Although police officers were subject to prosecution
for such offenses, the government often failed to hold them accountable.
According to Amnesty International (AI), torture usually took place during
criminal investigations and following unlawful and arbitrary arrests. In February the
Jalandhar district police tortured and killed a dalit
youth when he refused to confess to theft. In May in Tamil Nadu, police
arrested Mariappan, a person belonging to a lower
caste, for stealing valuables from the house where he was employed. Mariappan told media that police inflicted serious
injuries on him while he was in their custody. U.S.
Library of Congress - Country Study 1996 Library of Congress
Call Number DS407 .I4465 1996 www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/?q=DS407+.I4465 [accessed 27 July
2017] CIVIL LIBERTIES,
HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE ARMED FORCES – During the 1980s and 1990s, both
international and domestic human rights groups asserted that human rights
violations are rampant. The principal international organizations making
these allegations are the International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty
International, and Asia Watch. Two Indian counterparts are the People's Union
for Civil Liberties and the People's United Democratic Front. Indian and
foreign press reports have alleged that local police and paramilitary forces
have engaged in rape, torture, and beatings of suspects in police custody.
Numerous "militants" reportedly have simply disappeared in Jammu
and Kashmir. On other occasions, especially in Punjab, security forces on
various occasions allegedly captured insurgents and then shot them in staged
"encounters" or "escapes." The government has either
vigorously challenged these allegations or asserted that condign punishment
had been meted out against offenders. The government has made efforts to
blunt the barrage of domestic and foreign criticism. One such effort was the
establishment of the five-member National Human Rights Commission in 1993
composed of senior retired judges. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
India", http://gvnet.com/torture/India.htm, [accessed <date>] |
