NEPAL: Police torture youth in Nepalgunj District

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to inform you that 4 police officers attached with the Ward Police Office Nepalgunj district have tortured a man until he fell unconscious. They accused the man (Dipu Sijali) of making noises at B.P. Chowk, Nepalgunj District. The victim has undergone medical investigation, and secured a medical report, which states that he has been tortured. The victim wants to file a case against the police officers. However, the police have threatened to file a counter case under the Public Offence Act if Sijali seeks to pursue legal action against the police officers. This is another blatant example of the police resorting to torture in routine, something that is an indicator of the collapse of the rule of law in Nepal.

CASE DETAILS:

The Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRDA) has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that 32-year-old Dipu Sijali (Malla), resident of ward number 12, Nepalgunj Sub-municipality, has been tortured by the police for making noises at midnight at B.P. Chowk of Nepalgunj District on 11 April 2016. Sijali, who is affiliated with the local construction company Kalika Contruction, was coming home following a party with his office friends. However, on his way home, one of his friends from Bardiya District met with a motorcycle accident at B.P. Chowk. Sijali and his friends, took the injured man to Nepalgunj Medical College for treatment. 

Immediately after they arrived at the hospital, four police officers (one with a moustache), including Police Constable Mohan Sunar, arrived in a police vehicle, and started punching, kicking, and hitting with gun-butts. The police officers claimed that Sijali was making a lot of noises at B.P. Chowk. Due to excessive beating, Sijali lost consciousness. Upon seeing that, Man Bahadur Thapa, who is a security guard of the hospital, admitted Sijali to the Emergency Ward. When doctors found his condition critical, they admitted him to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). 
The police tortured Sijali at around midnight on Monday night. He fell unconscious; he gained his consciousness only at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, i.e. on 12 April 2016. Sijali informed representatives of the THRDA that the police, for no reason, have tortured him. He also mentioned that he had lost NPR one hundred and fourteen thousand and his mobile phone had been damaged in the incident. 

Sijali was discharged from hospital on 13 April, and has been recovering at home. He is preparing to file a case against the police officers. The Banke District Court has asked for a medical report, in order to file a case against the officers. Therefore, the victim went and secured a medical report (AHRC has a copy) where it has been clearly certified by doctors that the victim sustained blunt injury to the occipital region of head and had scrotal swelling. 

On the other hand, the police have pressurized the hospital; the police have released information that Sijali fell unconscious due to excessive consumption of alcohol. 

And Tek Bahadur Rai, Superintendent of Police stationed at the District Police Office Banke have threatened that if Sijali files a case against the police, the police will file a case against Sijali and his friends on a public offence charge. It has also come to notice that the prime witness, the hospital’s security guard, was taken into police custody for interrogation. However, the guard is not willing to disclose the police summon. It is likely that he has been threatened by the police not to speak about the issue.

The victim and his family members do not want to tolerate the act of police torture and give in to police threats. Thus, they are in the process of filing a case against the police officers involved in torture at a public place.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

The victim was tortured openly in a public place by police officers. The officers allege that he was making noises in a public place. The allegation is suspect itself, given Sijali and his friends were worried about bringing their injured friend for treatment as quickly as possible.

Please write letters to the following authorities calling on them to take the necessary action against the police officers involved in this case.

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.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER