By Aabid Mushtaq.
Custodial tortures ranging from assault of various types to death by the police for extortion of confessions and imputation of evidence are not uncommon. The methods of investigation and detection of a crime, in the backdrop of vast scope or idea of “humane” administration of criminal justice, not only disregards human rights of an individual and they undermines his dignity but also exposes him to unwarranted violence and torture by those who are expected to ‘ protect’ him.
In India where the rule of law is inherent and has an apex command and right to life and liberty is an existential force or derivative right for most of the other fundamental rights and adorning highest stand amongst all fundamental rights. The events or different Instances of torture and using third degree methods upon suspects during illegal detention and police remand casts a slur on the very system of administration. Furthermore, it raises questions on the competency of judicial premises on unfettering such nastiest actions of police and not safeguarding these sacrosanct rights. The terrible dealing with the suspected persons has created a depressing scenario. Torture in custody is at present treated as an inevitable part of investigation. Investigations retain the wrong notion that if enough pressure is applied the accused will confess.
The methods of torture included electric shock, applying chilli powder or pouring petrol on private parts, beating while handcuffed, pricking body with needles, branding with a hot iron rod, beating after stripping, urinating in mouth, inserting a hard blunt object into anus, beating after hanging upside down with hands and legs tied, forcing to perform oral sex, pressing finger nails with pliers, beating with iron rods after victim is suspended between two tables with hands and legs tied, and kicking the abdomen of a pregnant woman.
The set up of such destructive methods, which devastatingly degrade the human lives, is an unprecedented and unfortunate, while as for the law governed country and democratic aspirations as well. The practice has become so common that when we are looking into the affairs of investigative agencies only a rogue and authoritative type of methods are at hands. The rule of law is just a mere idea that has to kneel down before such self-styled lawless authorities. How the affairs of a country are approaching from a welfare state to a police state is bizarrely an upshot of an unaccountable and unchecked power of policing authorities. The events of such incidents have surpluses the existing unimaginable numbers that are already haunting the normal nature of country in terms of rule of law and democratic values. According to a report, a total number of 1,731 people died in custody in India during 2019. This works out to almost five such deaths daily. Annual report on torture 2019 further states that about 1,606 of the deaths happened in judicial custody and 125 in police custody.
Scrolling back, almost half and a year ago, the police picked up. Rizwan Assad Pandit, a school-principal in a terror case and lodged in CARGO, an SOG camp in Srinagar. According to the initial probe, died because of “extravasations of blood”-the leak of blood from a vessel into the surrounding tissues caused by multiple injuries. According to the report quoting an official privy to the find ,”the blood lost in soft tissues due to multiple injuries was extensive internally, and this must have led to irreversible shock. There was not blunt injury or damage to the internal organs, “he said. Furthermore he had cuts and injuries all over his body, “he said “he also had a haemotoma(a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues)in his left arm and eye. How did the enquiries have miserly failed while covering up the whole incident and how justice remaining delayed is a subordinate of manifestation of arbitrary nature of the police system in the valley. The killing of Rizwan has invoked certain thoughts of judicial expertise and some fundamental instructions on dealing with the victims in the police custody. While Rizwan’s case apparently came to end for unexpected justice, has been nowhere all the time.
Coming to the new such barbaric act when a boy namely Irfan Ahmed Dar from sopore had been picked up by the police in a same pattern as Rizwan Assad Pandit in march 2019 and was found dead a day later. The practice of dealing hard with the victims or suspects does not seem settling until yet in India.
Torture has been widely denounced by the International Community and is regarded as illegal under int’l law. The supreme Court of the United states in Miranda V. Arizona, 384, U.S. 436, 448 (1996) and also in Blackburn v State of Alabama, U.S. 199 (1960) held that “ coercion can be mental and as well as physical.’’ Not only has the U.S. come up with the change in its approach with torture but also the European states have framed up convention for protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
India has a strict legal procedure for dealing with the cases of torture. Legal remedies are clearly laid down in various laws and codes such as the Code of Criminal Procedure, Indian Penal code, Indian police Act, Indian Evidence Act and the Fundamental law of the land, i.e. the constitution of India. Despite these safeguards, India has failed to put into practices these provisions of laws. India is a signatory of many int’l conventions such as ICCPR, UDHR and UNCAT, which provides for prohibition of torture. These conventions also prohibit of torture and use of inhumane means and methods against human beings. Article 2(1) of UNCAT provides that “every state party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.” Similarly, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states, “ No one shall be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article 7 of ICCPR is also a significant directing countries to refrain from torturing for any purpose. India is duty- bound to follow and not violate the provisions of these conventions as a part of these. The implementation of these conventions is nowhere, becoming a country approaching to cross the number to have most human rights violations in the world.
The government must intervene and courts should derive the strict guidelines for the police system to make custody, a literal meaning of it a guardianship because a suspect is never a criminal in a first instance and torturing a suspect or victim never lowers down the crime rate but it accelerates. To conclude the long run of custodial tortures and eventually could define the nature of Indian governance as to quote the former Supreme Court judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer, has said that the custodial torture is worse than terrorism because the authority of the state is behind it.
Author is a student of law , at department of law in University of Kashmir, can be reached at aabiddar299@gmail.com. Tweets @Aabidrafiqa.
