New Delhi: As many as 348 persons died and 1,189 were tortured in police custody between 2018-19 and 2020-21, the home ministry told the Lok Sabha.
The junior home minister, Nityanand Rai said that as per information received from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), 100 deaths in police custody and 236 cases of torture during detention by cops were reported in 2020-21, down from 112 deaths and 411 instances of torture in police custody in 2019-20 and 136 deaths and 542 torture instances in 2018-19.
The minister’s reply was to Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram’s question related to police violence against civilians while enforcing Covid lockdowns. Rai also said ‘police’ and ‘public order’ are state subjects as per the seventh schedule of the Constitution, with the responsibility of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration and prosecution of crimes, conviction of accused, protection of life and property etc resting primarily with the respective state governments.
Death in police custody is a matter of shame in any democracy. That there have been at least 100 such deaths in the past three years is a matter of extreme concern. Such deaths need to be investigated thoroughly and the offenders brought to justice, something that rarely happens. That’s the only way to discourage and reduce such cases.
Regarding the sub-query, seeking details of action taken against the offending police officers behind custodial deaths and torture, the home ministry reiterated that ‘police’ and ‘public order’ being state subjects, “the state governments are empowered to deal with such offences which come to their notice as per the extant provisions of the law.” Times of India
