Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a serious case of police violence which occurred on 15 August 2010 at Sekhuwana chock in Nawalparasi District. In this incident, a 40-year-old farmer, Rudal Yadav, was arrested by 10 policemen, handed over to the Indian police, without following any legal extradition procedure and shot dead in the Bihar state of India. Later in the day, almost 200 policemen encircled the village and beat up the villagers, injuring many of them and robbed their houses. Lorik Yadav, the former head of the Village Development Council, was severely beaten up and arrested. He has been refused access to lawyers and NGO representatives since then.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Extrajudicial Killing of Rudal Yadav:
According to the information we have received, on 15 August 2010, three armed plain clothed policemen arrived at 7.45am at Sekhuwana chock in Nawalparasi District, travelling on two motorcycles, one of them having an Indian identification plate. Upon arriving at Sekhuwana chock, the three men reportedly manhandled Rudal Yadav, 40, a farmer and permanent resident of Kudyia VDC-3, Nawalparasi District. One of the policemen fired his weapon into the air.
Around ten to fifteen minutes after the scene, ten armed policemen in uniform arrived in a police van (registration No. 5733) from the Area Police Office, Belatari and arrested Rudal Yadav. Yadav was handcuffed and taken in the same police van to the Indian border in Jhulanipur and it was latter learnt that he was shot dead by the Indian police.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prakash Aryal, from Limbini Zonal Police Office, Rudal Yadav tried to escape from Nepal to India and was then shot dead by the Indian police at Jatahabagram in Bihar, India, 6 to 7 kilometers away from the border. But doubts have arisen regarding this version of events as Rudal was handcuffed and it is thus unlikely that he managed to escape from the police. It has therefore been alleged that the Nepal police handed Rudal over to the Indian police who extrajudicial killed him.
We are informed that Rudal Yadav was reportedly on the ‘most wanted’ list of criminals established by the Indian police but had not committed any crime in Nepal. The extradition process from Nepal to India is regulated by an Extradition Treaty which specifies that the surrender of a person accused of an offence should be made ‘upon a requisition duly made by or under the authority of the Government in whose territories the offence is alleged to have been committed’. In other words, Rudal Yadav’s surrender to the Indian police should have depended on a decision taken at the governmental level but the decision to hand him over to the Indian police seems to have resulted from an agreement between the Nepali and Indian police to handover persons suspected of having committed a crime to each other in order to escape from the heavy governmental and legal proceedings. The fact that the police took the decision upon themselves without following any legal procedure seriously jeopardizes the rights of the citizens and deprives them of protection against illegal arrest or extrajudicial killings.
Police violence in Sekhuwana chock:
In Sekhuwana chock, after the villagers first heard the firing, they rushed toward the incident thinking that the three unknown persons manhandling Rudal Yadav were robbers. The villagers then managed to capture one of them, who later identified himself as Police Constable (PC) Karmullaha Dhobi from Bhairahawa Zonal Police Office. The villagers interrogated him in the presence of Lorik Yadav, 42, ex-vice chairman of the Village Development Council and local leader of the Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party. PC Karmullaha Dhobi told them that Rudal was a criminal and that the police had come to arrest him.
As the villagers were about to release the policeman, a further 140 policemen arrived in the village in two trucks and four police vans and attacked the villagers without warning. Ten to fifteen minutes later yet another 80 policemen in uniforms arrived in two trucks and two police vans. The policemen assaulted the villagers randomly with sticks and riffles butts resulting in some of the villagers, including four women, being injured. After beating the villagers, the police looted cash and valuables from their houses and scattered their food grains (Please see the pictures of ransacked homes here: photo-1; photo-2; and photo-3).
One of the villagers, Ms. K. Yadav claims that the police robbed Rs. 50,000.00 (USD 684.46) in cash plus jewels valued at Rs. 40,000.00 (USD 547.57). They also stole other items. Another villager, Ms. U. Dusad who was watching the incident was also beaten by the policemen and has sustained injuries on her hand, left leg, right knee and waist (Please see the photos of Ms. Dusad’s injuries here: photo-1; photo-2; photo-3; and photo-4).
Torture and incommunicado detention of Lorik Yadav:
Lorik Yadav was tortured 30 meters away from his house. He was beaten with sticks and rifle butts, kicked and punched. According to his sister, Lorik Yadav sustained injuries to his head and back and was bleeding severely. The victim’s sister, K. Yadav, and the victim’s wife, Shanti Devi Yadav, were also beaten by the police when they tried to help him. The sister sustained injuries to her left hand, left hip and left leg.
Half an hour after the beatings, the policemen arrested Lorik Yadav. The policemen then entered his house and reportedly forced Moti Rani Yadav, Lorik Yadav’s mother, to sign 10 blank papers, which appeared like those used for legal proceedings. The police further prepared a paper stating that some cash was seized from the house and asked the Village District Council Secretary to sign it. But it is alleged that the police in reality seized NRs 2,00000 (USD 2737.85) in cash, 12 guns registered in the name of Lorik Yadav, 21 bullets, 3 mobile sets along with their SIM cards at an estimated value of NRs 45,000 (USD 616.02), a Discover motorcycle registered as Lu. 5 Pa. 5391 and documents such as license, citizenship certificate, land ownership papers etc.
After Lorik Yadav was arrested he was reportedly taken to a bridge over Khajuraha River in Pratappur VDC and ordered to run away. As Lorik refused to run, the policemen beat him again.
The police took him to District Police Office, Rupendehi. Lorik Yadav has been charged under the Arms and Ammunition case in Nawalparasi District and in a drug smuggling case in Rupendehi District. He was remanded several times: first on 15 August for three days, then on 18 August for two days and on 20 and 30 August he was remanded for 10 days each. We are informed that when he was remanded for the second time, Justice Chandra Bahadur Saru ordered the police to include the physical and mental check-up report and the statement of the detainee in the case file, which are mandatory duties of police officers under the 1992 Police Act. The medical check-up of all the detainees guarantees the protection of their physical and mental health and is an indispensable tool to establish the accountability of potential acts of police torture.
Lorik Yadav was kept in Bhim Hospital, under police supervision. A human rights activist who met him in the hospital was asked by the guards watching the victim neither to take photographs of him nor to interview him as there were strict orders from senior officers to prevent anyone from speaking to Lorik. According to the observations of the human rights activist, the victim’s left hand was broken and plastered; he had blue marks and swelling around his eyes, on his face and his forehead, stitches on the back of his head and blue marks on his legs and his back. He was discharged on 6 September and incarcerated in Rupendehi District Police Office. Nevertheless, it is now reported that he did not have access to a lawyer or NGO representative. His family is currently unaware of his whereabouts.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please join us in asking for the thorough investigation of this serious case of police violence, prosecution of the perpetrators and compensation for the victims.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapportuer on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
NEPAL: Police beat and rob villagers in Nawalparasi District, one villager is handed over to the Indian police and killed and another one is detained incommunicado
Names of victim:
1. Rudal Yadav, 40, permanent resident of Kudiya VDC-3, Nawalparasi District, allegedly killed by the Indian police in Bihar State, India
2. Lorik Yadav, 42, resident of Sekhuwana, Ward no. 3, Kudiya VDC, Nawalparasi district, ex-Vice Chairman of the Village Development Committee and local leader of Terai Madhesh Democratic Party; severely beaten up by the police and held in incomunicado detention
3. Around 8 to 10 villagers beaten up by the police, including four women: K. Yadav, 37, U. Dusad, 43, S. D. Yadav, 40 and M. D. Yadav, 30, all residents of Sekhuwana Chock
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. 10 unidentified policemen travelling in a police van registered as 5733 allegedly from Area Police Office, Belatari, are involved in the illegal arrest and surrender of Rudal Yadav which resulted in the deliberate killing of the victim
2. 140 unidentified policemen later joined by 80 policemen, who attacked the villagers and robbed their houses
3. Police officers at Rupendehi District Police Office, who did not allow victim Lorik Yadav to access his lawyers or his family
Date of incident: 15 August 2010
Place of incident: Sekhuwana chock, Nawalparasi District
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding a serious case of police violence which occurred on 15 August 2010 at Sekhuwana chock in Nawalparasi District. I am informed that in this incident, a 40-year-old farmer, Rudal Yadav, was arrested by 10 policemen, reportedly handed over to the Indian police, without following any legal extradition procedure and allegedly deliberately killed in Bihar State of India. Later in the day, I am told that more than 200 policemen incircled the village and beat up the villagers, injuring 8 to 10 of them, and robbed their houses. Lorik Yadav, former head of the Village Development Council, was severely beaten up and arrested, and has been refused access to lawyers and NGO representatives since then.
Extrajudicial Killing of Rudal Yadav:
According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission, on 15 August 2010, three armed plainclothed policemen arrived at 7.45 am at Sekhuwana chock in Nawalparasi District, travelling on two motorcycles, one of them having an Indian identification plate. Upon arriving at Sekhuwana chock, the three men reportedly manhandled Rudal Yadav.
Ten to fifteen minutes after the scene, I am told that ten armed policemen in uniform arrived in the village, in a police van -registered as 5733- from Area Police Office, Belatari, and arrested Rudal Yadav. Rudal Yadav was handcuffed and taken in the same police van to the Indian border in Jhulanipur and it was latter learnt that he was shot dead by the Indian police.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Prakash Aryal, from Limbini Zonal Police Office, Rudal Yadav tried to escape from Nepal to India and was then shot dead by the Indian police at Jatahabagram in Bihar, India, 6 to 7 kilometers away from the border. But I am informed that doubts have arisen regarding this version of events as Rudal was handcuffed and it is thus unlikely that he managed to escape from the police. It has therefore been alleged that the Nepal police handed Rudal over to the Indian police who shot him dead.
I am told that Rudal Yadav was reportedly on the “most wanted” list of criminals established by the Indian police but had not committed any crime in Nepal. I know that the extradition process from Nepal to India is reglemented by an Extradition Treaty which specifies that the surrender of a person accused of an offence should be made “upon a requisition duly made by or under the authority of the Government in whose territories the offence is alleged to have been committed”. In other words, Rudal Yadav’s surrender to the Indian police should have depended on a decision taken at the governmental level but the decision to hand him over to the Indian police seems to have resulted from an agreement between the Nepal and Indian police to handover persons suspected of having committed a crime to each other in order to escape from the heavy governmental and legal proceedings.
I therefore urge you to make sure those allegations of illegal arrest and surrender to the Indian police are thoroughly investigated by a competent and independent authority. This tendency of the police to take the decision to extradite prisonners to India in their own hands without referring to a governmental authority should be curbed as it seriously jeopardizes the rights of the citizens; depriving them of legal protection against illegal arrest or extrajudicial killings.
Police violence in Sekhuwana chock:
I am further informed that in Sekhuwana chock, the villagers first thought that those three unknown persons manhandling Rudal Yadav were robers. The villagers managed to capture one of them, who latter introduced himself as police constable Karmullaha Dhobi from Bhairahawa Zonal Police Office. The villagers interrogated him in the presence of Lorik Yadav, 42, ex-vice chairman of the Village Development Council and local leader of the Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party. Police Constable Karmullaha Dhobi reportedly said that Rudal was a criminal and that the police had come here to arrest him.
As the villagers were about to release the policeman, almost 140 policemen arrived in the village in two trucks and four police vans and attacked the villagers without warning. Ten to fifteen minutes latter 80 policemen in uniforms and arms arrived in two trucks and two police vans. I am appaled to hear that the policemen reportedly beat the villagers randomly with sticks and riffles butts and punched and kicked them, resulting in eight to ten villagers, including four women, being injured and verbally abused. After beatting the villagers, the police reportedly robbed cash and ornaments from the houses and scattered their food grains.
A villager, Ms. K. Yadav claims that the police robbed Rs. 50, 000.00 (USD 684.46) in cash, jewels that cost Rs. 40, 000.00 (USD 547.57), one Pakhuwa (knife) from her house. Another villager, Ms. U. Dusad who was watching the incident was also beaten by the policemen and has sustained injuries on her head, left leg and right knee.
I am therefore strongly urging you to make sure those allegations of police violence are properly and promptly investigated as incidents of police violence remaining unsanctionned will only further undermine the trust of people in Terai in the state institutions and further undermine the ability of the police forces to curb the rampant criminality in the region. The villagers whose houses have been robbed or who have sustained injuries following the beatings must be granted appropriate compensation.
Torture and incommunicado detention of Lorik Yadav:
I further wish to draw your attention to the case of torture and incomunicado detention of Lorik Yadav and upon the necessity to immediately intervene to probe into those allegations, hold the perpetrators accountable and inform his family of his whereabouts. Lorik Yadav was tortured 30 meters away from his house at 7.55am, he was beaten with sticks and gun butts, kicked with police boots and punched. According to his sister, K. Yadav, Lorik Yadav was injured on his head and back and was bleeding severely. The victim’s sister, K. Yadav, and the victim’s wife, Shanti Devi Yadav, were also beaten by the police when they tried to help Lorik. K.Yadav reportedly sustained injuries on her left hand, left hip and left leg.
Half an hour after the beatings, the policemen arrested Lorik Yadav. The policemen then entered his house and reportedly forced Moti Rani Yadav, Lorik Yadav’s mother, to sign 10 blank papers, in the model of those used for legal proceedings. The police further prepared a paper stating that some cash was seized from the house and asked the Village District Council Secretary to sign it. But it is alleged that the police in reality seized NRs 2,00,000 (USD 2737.85) in cash, 12 guns registered in the name of Lorik Yadav, 21 bullets, 3 mobile sets along with their SIM cards for a value of NRs 45,000 (USD 616.02), 1 Discover motorcycle registered as Lu. 5 Pa. 5391 and documents such as license, citizenship certificate, land ownership papers.
Lorik Yadav was arrested by the police and reportedly taken to a bridge over Khajuraha River in Pratappur VDC and ordered to run away. As Lorik refused to run, the policemen beat him.
The police took him to District Police Office, Rupendehi. Lorik Yadav has been charged under the Arms and Ammunition case in Nawalparasi District and in a drug smuggling case in Rupendehi District. He was remanded several times: first on 15 August for three days, then on 18 August for two days and on 20 and 30 August he was remanded for 10 days each. We are informed that when he was remanded for the second time, Justice Chandra Bahadur Saru ordered the police to include the physical and mental check-up report and the statement of the detainee in the case file, which are part of the duties of police officers under the 1992 Police Act. I know that the medical check-up of all the detainees guarantees the protection of their physical and mental health while in detention and is an indispensable tool to establish the accountability of potential acts of police torture.
Lorik Yadav was kept in Bhim Hospital, under police supervision. A human rights activist who met him in the hospital was asked by the guards watching the victim not to take photographs of him nor to interview him as there were strict orders from senior officers to prevent anyone from speaking to Lorik. According to the human rights activists’ observation, the victim’s left hand was broken and plastered, he had blue marks and swelling around his eyes, on his face and his forehead, stictches on the back of his head and blue marks on his legs and his back. He was discharged on 6 September and incarcerated in Rupendehi District Police Office. Nevertheless, it is now reported that he does not have any access to a lawyer or NGO representative. His family is currently unaware of his whereabouts.
I therefore strongly urge you to make sure the allegations that Lorik Yadav was severely beaten up by the police must be properly investigated and the alleged perpetrators must face prosecutions. The medical examination report must be made public and communicated to the victim’s family. I also strongly request that the whereabouts of the victim are communicated to his family and that the victim must be granted access to his lawyers.
I am looking forward to your intervention in this serious case to ensure the accountability of the acts of police violence in Nepal.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Ramesh Chand Thakuri
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432 (Secretary to IGP)
E-mail: info@nepalpolice.gov.np , phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np
2. Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Tel: +977 1 4262506
Email: attorney@mos.com.np
3. Mr. Kedar Nath Upadhaya
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowk, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
Tel: +977 1 5010015
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. Mr. Yadhav Raj Khanal
Chief
Police Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police, Naxal, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4411618.004411705.004420542
E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np
5. Home Minister,
Ministry of Home Affairs,
Singha Darbar,
Kathmandu,
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
Tel: +977 1 4211211 .00 4211264
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
