Time8
Published on 26-June-2020
By Debananda Medak
Out of the 125 deaths in police custody, 75 persons or 60% belonged to the poor and marginalised communities
Guwahati: The National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT) in its ‘India: Annual Report on Torture 2019’ released On Friday, on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture stated that a total of 1,731 persons died in custody during 2019 i.e. death of about five persons daily. These included 1,606 deaths in judicial custody and 125 deaths in police custody.
The report said, out of the 125 deaths in police custody, Uttar Pradesh topped with 14 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab with 11 deaths each; Bihar with 10 deaths; Madhya Pradesh with 9 deaths; Gujarat with 8 deaths; Delhi and Odisha with 7 deaths each; Jharkhand with 6 deaths; Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan with 5 deaths each; Andhra Pradesh and Haryana with 4 deaths each; Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal with 3 deaths each; Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Manipur with 2 deaths each; and Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Tripura with 1 death each.
According to the report, out of the 125 deaths, 93 persons (74.4%) died during police custody due to alleged torture/foul play while 24 persons (19.2%) died under suspicious circumstances in which police claimed they committed suicide (16 persons), illness (7 persons) and injuries (1 person) while the reasons for the custodial death of five (4%) persons were unknown.
NCAT Director Paritosh Chakma said, “Torture is perpetrated to extract confession or bribes and torture methods used in 2019 included hammering iron nails in the body (Gufran Alam and Taslim Ansari of Bihar), applying roller on legs and burning (Rizwan Asad Pandit of Jammu & Kashmir), ‘falanga’ wherein the soles of the feet are beaten (Rajkumar of Kerala), stretching legs apart in opposite side (Rajkumar of Kerala), hitting in private parts (Brijpal Maurya and Lina Narjinari of Haryana), electric shock (Yadav Lal Prasad of Punjab and Monu of Uttar Pradesh), pouring petrol in private parts (Monu of Uttar Pradesh), applying chilly power in private parts (Raj Kumar of Kerala) beating while being hand-cuffed (Sajith Babu and Rajesh of Kerala), pricking needle into body (3-year-old minor of Tamil Nadu), branding with hot iron rod (3-year-old minor of Tamil Nadu), beating after stripping (Mohammed Tanveer and Lina Narjinari of Haryana; Minuwara Begum, Sanuwara and Rumela of Assam), urinating in mouth (Amit Sharma of Uttar Pradesh), inserting hard blunt object into anus (Diwakar Kumar of Bihar), beating after hanging upside down with hands and legs tied (Mahavir Bhatia of Rajasthan and Aaditya Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh), forcing to perform oral sex (Hira Bajania and 12 others of Gujarat), pressing finger nails with pliers (Anup Rabha of Assam), beating with iron rods after victim is suspended between two tables with both hands and legs tied (Aaditya Chouhan and Yashwant Chouhand of Madhya Pradesh), forced to do Murga pose or stress position (Lina Narjinari of Haryana), and kicking in belly of pregnant woman (Minuwara Begum of Assam).”
Chakma further revealed that out of the 125 deaths in police custody, 75 persons or 60% belonged to the poor and marginalised communities. “These included 13 victims from Dalit and tribal communities, 15 victims belonged to the Muslim minority community, 37 victims were picked up for petty crimes such as theft/burglary/cheating/selling of liquor illegally, gambling, etc which indicate their economic status, three were farmers, one was labourer, one was a refugee, two were security guards, one was a rag-picker and two worked as drivers,” Chakma said.
Photo Credit: BBC
PUBLISHED: 26-JUN-20 @ 12:33
