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1,888 Custodial Deaths In Two Decades, Only 26 Police Personnel Convicted: NCRB
Writer: Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
India, 16 Nov 2021 8:24 AM GMT
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Palak a journalism graduate believes in simplifying the complicated and writing about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She calls herself a " hodophile" or in layman words- a person who loves to travel.
Creatives : Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
The NCRB data reveal that the highest number of police officers — 11 — convicted for custodial deaths was in 2006 when seven in UP and four in Madhya Pradesh were found guilty.
As many as 1,888 custodial deaths were reported in India over the last 20 years., 893 cases registered against police officers and 358 personnel charge-sheeted. However, only 26 policemen were convicted during this period.
The official record compiled from the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) annual Crime in India (CII) reports from 2001-2020 — assumes significance in the wake of the custodial death last week of Uttar Pradesh native Altaf after he was detained in the case of a minor girl from a Hindu family gone missing.
Five police personnel were suspended from the Kotwali Police Station in Kasganj after the incident. They had alleged that the 22-year-old had hanged himself using a water pipe in a toilet that is just two feet from the ground, The Indian Express reported.
Uttar Pradesh officials said that a departmental inquiry and a magisterial probe into the custodial death were conducted simultaneously.
The NCRB data reveal that the highest number of police officers — 11 — convicted for custodial deaths was in 2006 when seven and four in UP and Madhya Pradesh were found guilty respectively.
76 Custodial Deaths Reported Last Year
As per the latest data, 76 custodial deaths were reported last year, with the highest number of 15 deaths in Gujarat. The other states on the list are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.
Since 2017, the Bureau has been releasing data on police personnel arrested in custodial death cases. Over the past four years, 96 cops have been arrested in connection with custodial deaths. However, no data is available for the previous years.
In its records, compiled from data submitted by various states and UT's, the NCRB has categorised "deaths in police custody" under two categories: people not on remand and those in remand. The first category covers those who have been arrested but are yet to be produced before the court, and the second include those in police/judicial remand.
Since 2001, as many as 1,185 custodial deaths have been reported in the "persons not on remand" category and 703 in the "persons in remand" category, the data shows.
Of the 893 cases registered against police officers in connection with custodial deaths during the last twenty years, 518 pertain to those not on remand.
Flaws In System Need To Be Rectified
Prakash Singh, a retired IPS officer who worked as DGP in UP and Assam, told The Indian Express that "flaws in the working of the police have to be acknowledged and rectified".
"Policemen don't investigate such cases properly. They usually defend their colleagues, which is obviously wrong. If a person has died in police custody, the person responsible should be held accountable and the police must ensure that he is punished," Singh said.
However, he said that 1,888 custodial deaths in the last two decades is "not a big figure for a country like India with huge size and population".
"But what is important is that police personnel use third-degree methods, injure a person in lockup, which is completely wrong. Police officers need to be sensitive and well-educated. They should be directed to rely on scientific ways of investigation and proper interrogation techniques," Singh said.
Raja Bagga, Senior Programme Officer, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), said the NCRB should also include information on the status of pending cases against police officers.
"Given the lengthy process of criminal trials, convictions of police officers after many years will not be reported by the NCRB's CII data. If the Bureau also included information on the status of pending cases against policemen, it would reflect a clear picture on the level of accountability in custodial death cases," he said.
Bagga also said that the 113th report of the Law Commission had recommended the insertion of Section 114 B in the Indian Evidence Act, which puts the burden of proof on the police to explain any injury inflicted in police custody.
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