Mounting levels of custodial deaths in India are alarming citizens and advocates alike. Experts say violations of laws against custodial torture are commonplace and that many police consider violence a legitimate tool.

In the last two decades, 1,888 custodial deaths have been reported across India, with 893 cases registered against police personnel, while a mere 358 police officers and justice officials were formally accused.

Just 26 policemen were convicted in this period, official records show.

This picture is enough to understand how the Indian Police treats poor citizens of India.
 
Data compiled by the country's Crime in India reports from 2001-2020 showed that 76 custodial deaths were reported last year.

The state that reported the highest number of such deaths in 2020 was Gujarat on the western coast with 15, followed by Uttar Pradesh in the north. No convictions were reported last year.

Militant monk, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Aditya Nath

There have been scores of horrific cases of custodial deaths in India in the recent past, but the death of a youth, Altaf, in a police station in northern Uttar Pradesh, created a storm earlier this month.

While police claim that the 22-year-old Muslim man hanged himself from a tap in the washroom just two feet (61 centimeters) above the ground using the drawstring of a jacket hood, his family alleges that he was murdered and demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation carry out an inquiry into his death.

Altaf’s mother, Fatima Begum, and relatives are suspicious that the police have killed her son.

The studies showed that 125 people who died in custody in 2019 alone belonged to the poor and marginalized communities. They included 13 from Dalit - a name given to people belonging to the lowest caste in India - and tribal communities, while 15 others were Muslims.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the original authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect or endorsed by the management, committee, donors or other partners of 12ummah.com

Source:  Deutsche Welle (DW News)  

عربي    |    Türkiye