Vasundhara Singh
Police and judiciary are a crucial part of the criminal justice system of India but what happens when the police resort to criminal activities to solve crimes and the judiciary becomes ignorant about such activities.
Questions about the authority of the police and the stand of the judiciary were raised after atrocities under custody came into light when a father and son were brutally killed by police under custody and no cognizance was taken up by the magistrate. These recent events caused public outcry against these authorities.
Custodial deaths are not new to the criminal system but go unnoticed because they are not reported in maximum cases or the victims do not have the means to take a stand against the authorities.
With the increasing number of deaths under custody in the past few years, it has become important to report them and create awareness among the public against the misuse of authority by those in power.
In a democratic country like India, the constitution provides fundamental rights even to arrested persons and safeguards these rights.
There are several legislations against custodial deaths that provide punishment and procedures for handling an arrested person and are to be followed by the detaining authorities.
Sections 330, 331 & 348 of IPC; Sections 25 & 26 of the Indian Evidence Act; Section 76 of CrPC and Section 29 of the Police Act, 1861 were enacted to limit the power of police and restrict them from employing violent methods to extract confessions, torture accused and extort the victims.
What is custodial death?
Custodial death is not exactly defined under any legal provisions but it can be understood in a general sense as the death of a person while he or she is under the custody of police or by the order of the court.
Death under custody can occur due to any form of torture, inhuman and cruel treatment by police officers during interrogation, investigation, or otherwise.
Looking at custody in the context of an arrest, it means holding a person under authorities for investigation purposes and it doesn’t imply any kind of usage of violence on the person in custody to speed the process.
It has to be considered that no individual can be deprived of his or her rights even during custody.
The Hon’ble SC has held that the prisoners are entitled to fundamental rights while they are in custody.[1]
Custody is of two types, police custody, and judicial custody.
Police custody is defined as- When following the receipt of an information/complaint/report by police about a crime, an officer of police arrests the suspect involved in the crime reported, to prevent him from committing the offensive acts further, such officer brings that suspect to the police station, it’s called Police Custody.[2]
Judicial Custody– Judicial Custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate.[3]
The first thing that happens to a suspect on arrest is that he is taken into police custody, following which he is taken before a magistrate and he may either be remanded to judicial custody or be sent back into police custody.
When an accused is arrested and brought into custody, his right to liberty is curtailed for that duration but the constitution of India provides fundamental rights under Article 20 and Article 22 to the arrested person and they cannot be curbed by any individual.
But recent incidents around the country flow against the constitutional principles with the increasing number of custodial deaths.
Data of custodial deaths in India
A total of 1,731 people died in custody in India in 2019. This works out to almost five such deaths daily, according to a report by a rights group.[4]
Deaths under police Custody
Police are considered an organ of the state whose duty is to maintain law and order in the society and protect the rights of individuals. They are trusted by the public to protect them from crimes but the recent incidents which have come into light bring up the question of whether police are there to protect us or we should be protected from them.
Police authority and their power were questioned after the brutal occurrence that took place in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. Anger and distrust sparked across the country after a father-son duo succumbed to injuries allegedly due to police torture when they were in custody.
A father, P Jeyaraj, 58, and his son Fenix, 38 –owned a mobile accessory shop in Sathankulam town in Tuticorin district were arrested by some policemen allegedly for keeping the shop open past permitted hours when Tamil Nadu government had imposed lockdown during COVID-19. The duo was taken to the police station after which they were assaulted by the police and died later in jail.
This violent act by police caught attention after it was covered by the media all over the country. But this is not the case when it comes to other custodial deaths. Maximum deaths occur in rural or less developed areas where there is no media attention and such cases of violence go unnoticed since people afraid of police don’t come forward to file complaints.
Data
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recorded 117 deaths in police custody across the country in 2019. The NCAT documented deaths of 125 persons in 124 cases in police custody. Out of 125 deaths documented, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of deaths with 14 deaths followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab.[5]
In 2019, the NCAT documented the deaths of 125 persons in 124 cases in police custody across the country. Out of the 125 deaths, 93 persons (74.4%) died during police custody due to torture or foul play alleged by family members/local residents, while 24 persons (19.2%) died under suspicious circumstances in which police claimed they committed suicide mostly by hanging with bedsheet, torn blanket, scarf, lungi, shirt, rope, towel, jumping from building, etc (16 persons), died of illness (7 persons) including sudden medical complication such as cardiac arrest, seizure, etc and death due to injuries after slipping from police station bathroom (1 person); and the reason for the custodial death of five (4%) persons were unknown.[6]
Various torture methods are used by police to force confession and extort money. Extreme force and brutality are employed by police such as beating, kicking, dragging with hairs, etc. Extreme torture methods include rape, harassment, illegal detention, etc.
Tukaram and another v. State of Maharashtra also called the Mathura rape case exposed the dark side of custodial torture where a young girl named Mathura was raped multiple times by several policemen under the pretext of interrogation.
Cases of death under police custody
Uttar Pradesh– On 1 January 2019, Baleswar, a 45- year-old e-rickshaw driver, was in the custody of Aziz Ganj police post on 21. Kerala custodial death: Two cops arrested, Deccan Herald, 3 July 2019, Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Baleswar was forcibly taken to Aziz Ganj police post by police personnel for refusing to pay hafta (bribe). The police illegally detained him and seized his e-rickshaw. They beat up Baleswar brutally and when his condition deteriorated, he was taken to a hospital where the deceased died on the night of 1 January 2019.[7]
Tamil Nadu– On 4 January 2019, Chinnavellai (56 years), an alleged drug peddler, resident of Pudupatti village in Natham taluka under Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, died under mysterious circumstance in the custody of Kottampatti police station in the district.
The police claimed that during interrogation Chinnavellai complained of uneasiness and fell unconscious. The police took him to the PHC at Karungalakudi from where the doctors referred him to the Government Hospital in Melur, where the doctors declared him dead.[8]
Tamil Nadu – On 13 January 2019, a 17-year-old boy (name withheld) was picked up by a four-member police team led by inspector Alexraj of S.S. Colony in Madurai in Tamil Nadu for questioning in a case of jewellery theft.
He was taken to the Thilagar Thidal station where he was kept in illegal custody till 16 January and allegedly tortured to extract a confession to the crime.[9]
Rajasthan– From 3-7 July 2019, a 35-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly illegally detained, tortured, and raped in police custody by nine police personnel including the SHO identified as Ranveer Singh at the Sardarshahar police station in Churu district, Rajasthan. [10]
Deaths under judicial custody
Prisons are considered to be one of the most important functionaries of the criminal justice system. They are established as correctional institutions for the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other crimes, and moral support for victims.
Holding an important role in society, they are constantly ignored and people living inside the prisons lead a life with no respect and security as there is a lack of stringent laws for their protection. There have been many instances wherein the prisoners have been subjected to inhuman conditions, a threat to their lives, no basic amenities which has ultimately led to their death under custody.
Data
According to the National Human Rights Commission, 1,606 cases of deaths in judicial custody were registered across the country in 2019. As per the latest ‘Prison Statistics Report-2018 of the NCRB, 1,845 prisoners had died across the country’s jails in 2018.
These include 149 un-natural deaths and 57 deaths in which the cause of death was unknown. As per the report, out of the 149 unnatural deaths, 129 prisoners committed suicides, 10 prisoners died due to attack by fellow prisoners, while no prisoners died due to excess/negligence by jail officials.[11]
Cases of deaths due to alleged judicial torture
Rajasthan– On 18 February 2019, Nikhil Singh Rajawat alias Bhawani (25 years), a convict, died under suspicious circumstances at Central Jail, Kota, Rajasthan. Jail officials claimed that the health of the deceased suddenly deteriorated, after which he was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
However, the deceased’s father, Doulat Singh alleged that his son was tortured to death by the jail officials for failing to pay a bribe of Rs. 100,000 demanded by them. [12]
Uttarakhand– On 13 March 2019, an undertrial prisoner identified as Firoz (32 years), died due to alleged torture at District Jail, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Jail officials claimed the health of the deceased suddenly deteriorated on 12 March 2019 and he was admitted to the jail hospital.
The family members of the deceased and villagers, however, alleged that Firoz died due to custodial torture. [13]
Uttar Pradesh– On 5 October 2019, Rakesh Valmiki (28 years), a convict lodged at Aligarh district jail, Uttar Pradesh, died under mysterious circumstances.
According to the jail officials, the prisoner’s health suddenly deteriorated, after which he was taken to hospital. However, the family members alleged that Rakesh was killed in jail.[14]
Landmark cases on custodial deaths
J. Prabhavathiamma v/s The State of Kerala & Others
The two serving police personnel were awarded the death sentence by a CBI court, after hearing the case for over a decade, in Thiruvananthapuram, over the death of a scrap metal shop worker, who the court believes was murdered in custody.
Yashwant And Others v. the State of Maharashtra (2018) 4MLJ (Crl)10(SC):
The Supreme Court on September 4 upheld the conviction of nine Maharashtra cops in connection with a 1993 custodial death case and extended their jail terms from three to seven years each. The police personnel were found guilty under Section 330 of the Indian Penal Code which involves voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession or to compel restoration of the property.
D.K. Basu Versus State of West Bengal (1997 (1) SCC 416)
Reports of custodial deaths and staged encounters of Naxals prompted Justice D.K. Basu, then Executive Chairman of the Legal Aid Services of West Bengal and a senior lawyer at the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, to send a letter to then Chief Justice of India, P N Bhagwati, on August 26, 1986.
Justice Bhagwati considered the letter as a writ petition and Shri D K Basu, Ashok K Johri versus State of West Bengal and State of Uttar Pradesh case was taken up by the Supreme court in 1987. That case led to a landmark order in 1996 after which guidelines were set down to be followed by detaining authorities during an arrest.
It has become the need of the hour to restrict the misuse of power by police and prison authorities and safeguard the rights of the arrested and prisoners.
There should be a ground-level implementation of necessary legislations that lay down the procedures for custody and prisoners should be made aware of their rights. Along with this, police officers should be given the required education and training about the human rights of the prisoners and persons in custody.
There can also be an implementation of inspection committees outside the police station which can consist of advocates, social workers, judicial officers who can keep a check on the atrocities of the police.
- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/778810/ ↑
- https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/fct.pdf ↑
- https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/fct.pdf ↑
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/five-custodial-deaths-in-india-daily-says-report/article31928611.ece ↑
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