Custodial killings: A ‘crime’ most foul

By Umang Poddar

The death of Altaf in a police station in Kasganj in  Uttar Pradesh has created  a storm. While the police claim  that the 22-year-old Muslim man  hanged himself from a tap in the  washroom just two feet above the  ground using the drawstring of  jacket hood, his family and supporters noted that the police version of events is hard to believe.

The opposition Samajwadi Party described the death as more evidence of rights violations by Uttar  Pradesh’s “thoko [trigger-happy]  police”.

The Supreme Court has described custodial deaths as “one  of the worst crimes in a civilised  society governed by rule of law”. Despite this, India sees a high number of custodial deaths. In 2019,  approximately five people died in  custody every day, according to a  report by the National Campaign  Against Torture.

As per a 2020 report by the same  organisation, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of  deaths in police custody of all  states.

What has happened?

Renewed attention has been  focused on the phenomenon after  Altaf died in police custody on  Tuesday. The police had taken him  in to be questioned in relation to  the abduction of a minor Hindu  girl. The police claim that during  questioning, Altaf went to the  washroom and hanged himself. Initially, his family had alleged  that he had been killed and demanded an inquiry by the Central  Bureau of Investigation. But subsequently, Chand Miyan, Altaf ’s  father, allegedly wrote a letter absolving the Uttar Pradesh Police of  any blame for his son’s death.

On Thursday, however, he  claimed that the police had made  him sign a letter without showing  him the contents. He also claimed  that he was illiterate and did not  know what he was signing.

“I put my thumbprint on it at  the insistence of the CO [circle officer],” he said. “I want justice.” He  also claimed that the police asked  him not to visit the station again.  As per the police, the post mortem  report cited asphyxiation as the  cause of death.

Five police officers have been  suspended till now. The district  administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death and  has also written to the state government recommending financial  relief to be given to Atlaf ’s relatives and a job for Altaf’s father.

On Friday, the National Commission for Minorities also sought  a report on Altaf’s death from Uttar Pradesh’s director general of  police and chief secretary within  15 days.

What is the law around custodial deaths?

Given the large number of custodial deaths in India, both the  legislature and the judiciary have  repeatedly framed mechanisms to  deal with this.

The law mandates that a First  Information Report be registered  in case of someone dying in police  custody. In 2005, the Code of Criminal  Procedure 1971 – a set of rules that  govern how criminal trials should  be conducted – was amended to  introduce an inquiry by judicial magistrates in cases of custodial  deaths. As per Section 176 of the  Code, in addition to the police conducting an inquiry for a custodial  death, the judicial magistrate or  the metropolitan magistrate in  the jurisdiction of the police station, has to mandatorily conduct  an inquiry.

Within 24 hours of the death, the  magistrate conducting the investigation has to send the body to the  nearest civil surgeon to be examined. If they cannot do it, they have  to record their reasons for this in  writing. The magistrate shall, if  practical, inform the deceased’s  family members about the inquiry  and allow them to be present when  it is being conducted.

National Human Rights Commission Guidelines

In addition, the National Human  Rights Commission has framed  guidelines on the process to be followed in case of custodial deaths.  All such deaths have to be reported to the National Human Rights  Commission within 24 hours. The  guidelines also mandate that the  post mortem must be video recorded where there is suspected  foul play, since, in case of custodial  deaths, the post-mortem report becomes a valuable record.

The Commission has also mandated that “all reports including  post-mortem, videography and  magisterial inquiry report must  be sent within two months of the  incident”.

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