INDIA: Police brutality in Manipur adds to custodial death toll in India

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Human Rights Alert, our partner organization in Manipur, about the custodial death of a Manipuri woman within the premises of the Andro Police Station. Such deaths are shockingly common, with nearly 12,000 being documented by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a 13-year period. The issue is especially rampant in areas with a heavy military presence that are prone to violence, including regions in the North-east. It is essential that the State takes cognizance of these grave violations of the fundamental right to life, and ensures that appropriate steps are taken to address the issues highlighted within this Urgent Appeal.

Case Narrative

The AHRC has taken note of information received from sources in Imphal, the capital of Manipur in north-east India. This region of India is heavily patrolled by the military and local police officers, and custodial deaths and instances of torture are common, with 12,000 deaths and 4,000 torture cases being reported by the NHRC between 2001-2013; the true number of un-reported cases is presumed to be much higher. The information contained within this Urgent Appeal has come from Human Rights Alert, a Manipur-based NGO that documents human rights violations in the north-east region.

Mutum Ongbi Indira, a 38-year-old resident of Imphal, Manipur, was found hanging inside the toilet of Andro Police Station in Imphal East District. Mutum was arrested from her residence at about 7 a.m. on 31 July 2017 by a team from the Police Station, on the basis of a complaint from one Sarungbam Lukhin, who had also reported that his wife had gone missing after leaving their home with Mutum. No arrest warrant was issued to her family at the time of the arrest, and they were only informed that she was found hanging by a piece of cloth in the toilet of the police station.Witnesses also reported that bruise marks were visible on her body. Upon hearing of her death, the local women of Andro staged a protest in front of the police station. Pursuant to this, a meeting was held and a Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed to pursue an investigation into the suspicious circumstances of Mutum’s death. 

The post-mortem of Mutum’s body was carried out at JN Institute of Medical Sciences, and was video-taped in the presence of an executive magistrate at the request of the JAC. The JAC also has requested the Chief Minister of Manipur to institute a judicial inquiry into the incident. Subsequent to this, the officer-in-charge of the Andro Police Station was transferred, and three police officers from the station were suspended under the orders of the SP Imphal East for “misconduct and dereliction of duty”. The Chief Minister of Manipur also informed the media that a magisterial inquiry into the issue would be initiated. However, he has refused to order the institution of a judicial inquiry, which is conducted by a judicial officer superior in rank to one who would conduct an executive inquiry. 

Background

India has one of the largest prison populations in the world, second only to China. A special inquiry into conditions in prisons was instituted only in 1997, after the death of Rajan Pillai, a prominent businessman. Subsequent to this, the Justice Leila Seth Commission examined the state of Indian prisons and recommended adherence to the UN Minimum Standard Rules on Treatment of Prisoners. There is a significant difference in the statistics provided by the NHRC and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB); the latter suggests that there have been only about 1,300 deaths in police custody over a period of 13 years, which is significantly lower than the nearly 12,000 reported by the NHRC in the same time period. The AHRC itself has documented 14,231 in the ten-year period between 2000-2010. Despite this, only a small number of cases are ever prosecuted, and even fewer result in successful convictions. Police brutality was recently brought into the spotlight when 200 inmates at Byculla Prison in Mumbai rioted in protest against the brutal sexual assault and murder of a female prisoner, Manjula Shetye, at the hands of six police officers. 

In light of the global epidemic of custodial deaths and police brutality, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in 1992 explained that states have “a positive obligation toward persons who are particularly vulnerable because of their status as persons deprived of liberty”. Amnesty International also created a 14-point Program for the Prevention of Extra-Judicial Killings in 1993, as a response to the same. It has been found that departmental or internal inquiries into custodial deaths yield few answers; Human Rights Watch reported that barely 30% of reported custodial deaths in suspicious circumstances reached trial stage, and a small fraction of that number was convicted, primarily due to the non-cooperation of police officers for purposes of testimony. While the NHRC possesses the power to investigate these offences and to order the prosecution of officials, it has restricted itself to instructing the government to provide compensation in most cases; it has recommended disciplinary measures only in three cases since 2012, and prosecution in none.

Additional Information

Under Article 21 of the Constitution, every person has the right to life and liberty, and may not be deprived of the same except under procedure established by the law. This right does not cease to exist even after arrest of a person; it has been held in the landmark case of Nilabati Behra v. State of Orissa (AIR 1993 SC 1960) that the kin of a person killed in police custody has the right to receive monetary compensation from the State for the infringement of this right, in direct reference to the right to a fair trial prescribed by Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 10 of the ICCPR also imposes the additional duty of the State to treat prisoners with “humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. The police officers at the Andro Police Station failed in this duty by their complicity in Mutum’s death.

The police also failed to observe proper procedure in the arrest and subsequent detention of Mutum. They directly contradicted the procedure laid down in D.K. Basu v. West Bengal([1997] 1 SCC 416) and the provisions of the CrPC, as the arresting officers did not prepare an arrest memo, nor did they inform Mutum’s family members of her arrest until much later. There is no evidence that Mutum was examined by a medical officer upon her arrest, as mandated by Section 54 and 55A of the CrPC, which has prevented investigating authorities from comparing Mutum’s physical condition at the time of her arrest to her condition at the time of her death. The NHRC also possesses the power to investigate the matter under Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, and should exercise that power to the fullest extent of the law. Incidentally, the Manipur State Human Rights Commission does not have a Chairperson at this point of time, who could supervise an investigation into this matter.
Suggested Action

It is apparent that police officers belonging to the Andro Police Station have caused and/or been complicit in the death of Mutum Ongbi Indira. Please write letters to the following authorities calling on them to investigate this case, demand a judicial inquiry as per S.176 of the CrPC and to address the broader issue of the numerous custodial deaths that take place on a daily basis.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, for its intervention into this matter.

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