INDIA: A tribal man tortured and his wife abused by West Bengal state police 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning another case of police brutality by personnel of Habra Police Station in West Bengal, India, of 28-year old Mr Raju Chowdhury of Kamarthuba, West Bengal, India. Mr Chowdhury’s extended and unjust detention and brutalisation since 9 January 2012, as is the assault on his home and family and the failure of police personnel to respond to his wife’s complaints, is morally and legally unacceptable. We urge you to write in to appeal to the relevant authorities to take actions against the police personnel responsible for these violations against the Chowdhury family’s constitutional and human rights.

CASE NARRATIVE:

An inquiry undertaken by MASUM reveals the following facts.

Mr Raju Chowdhury, is from the Scheduled Tribe caste in Kamarthuba in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. He is a rickshaw puller by occupation until his detention by police on 9 January 2012 at around 10 am at Habra Market. His wife, Ms Sadhana Chowdhury, and her father rushed down to the police station upon hearing and witnessed the victim being beaten and bleeding from his right ear. The next day the victim was taken to Barasat Court and severely beaten again by accompanying police officers, who proceeded to implicate him in criminal case no. 605/2011 dated 29 October 2011 under Sections 326/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. After this protracted period of detention, Mr Raju Chowdhury has still not been tried in an open court or been permitted to see a defence attorney. The conditions of his continued detention are also unclear.

On 26 January, five men entered the victim’s house around 10.30 am. They assaulted and tried to outrage the modesty of the victim’s wife. The men ransacked the house, breaking household items and throttling the children, threatening loudly that they were able to ruin her life just as they were able to get her husband incarcerated. When neighbours, alerted by Ms Sadhana’s cries for help, arrived, the five men fled. At least three have been identified to be Mr Basu Kundu, Mr Tapesh Kundu and Mr Tanmoy Kundu; all were residents of Kamarthuba, under the jurisdiction of the Habra Police Station.

Ms Sadhana Chowdhury went to Habra Police Station to lodge a complaint (First Information Report) concerning the incident but the officer on duty refused to take her statement. She was brought before the Second Officer (the mejobabu) of the police station who also refused to take down her complaint and instead verbally abused her. On 30 January, Ms Sadhana Chowdhury lodged a written complaint before the Additional Superintendent of Police, Barasat, narrating the entire event as well as indicting police personnel from Habra Police Station for failing to discharge their duty. To date, no action has been taken and the family is afraid to remain at home due to the possibility of future violence against their persons.

The above case highlights several systemic faults in the police administration of Kamarthuba:
1. Lack of justification for arrest, detention and physical trauma of victim, Mr Raju Chowdhury;
2. Non-compliance of the procedural laws concerning arrest and detention;
3. Lack of transparency and accountability in judicial proceedings;
4. Possible association between vendetta- or profit-driven local thugs and police;
5. Lack of responsiveness of police officers and judiciary to aggrieved locals;
6. Unwillingness or inability of the justice system to respond to everyday crime against individuals living within their legal and geographical jurisdiction.

These sit uneasily against a backdrop of the guidelines laid down by the case of D K Basu. The police did not seem to have a legal document or memo requiring or justifying his arrest, did not subsequently inform family members of Mr Chowdhury’s arrest, did not conduct the stipulated regular 48-hour medical checks throughout Mr Chowdhury’s detention. Instead, they abused their positions of authority to physically injure Mr Chowdhury and to detain him for an unreasonable length of time at Habra Police Station. These actions violate Mr Chowdhury’s right to security and liberty of person, right against arbitrary of unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home and right to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person when deprived of his liberty. These are individual rights set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the Indian state is signatory to.

There does not currently seem to be any “effective remedy” to Mr Chowdhury’s invidious position, where his rights have been infringed and the only recourse he has is to appeal to the very perpetrators who have in the first place violated those rights. Without state intervention or international pressure, Mr Chowdhury faces for the foreseeable future continued abuse of his freedoms and physical person, as well as great fear for his family’s safety.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding an investigation into this case. The victim must be released on bail and fairly tried in an open court for all accusations brought against him. Both Mr Raju Chowdhury and his family must be provided with immediate protection against local thugs and abusive police officers.

The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture calling for further intervention in this case.

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