INDIA: Torture, assault and intimidation used as a means of criminal investigation in Thrissur, Kerala 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding continuing human rights violations from Kerala, India. The local police continue to use torture and assault as a means of criminal investigation. The lack of adequate laws to prevent torture and the disastrously poor quality of lawyers available deny victims an early, but vital chance to inform judges of their treatment by the police, thus denying any possibility of redress for the violence committed against them. This is particularly evident in the following two cases.

Case 1

Name of victim: Mr. Sahadevan, son of Shankaran, residing at Karapurath house, Ayyapankavu, Mulayam, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India. Employed as a lower grade member of staff for the Thrissur Municipal Corporation.
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. M. K. Krishnan, Sub Inspector of Police, Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
2. Mr. Renjan, Circle Inspector of Police, Ollur Police Circle Office, Ollur, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
3. Mr. Santhosh, Police Constable (PC 3926), Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
4. Mr. Sooryan, Police Constable (PC 3475), Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
Date of incident: 5 March 2006
Place of incident: Mulayam, Thrissur district, Kerala state

On 5 February 2006, at approximately 5:20pm, Sahadevan was taken into custody under the suspicion of his involvement in a fight which happened in the locality. Sahadevan was brutally assaulted at the time of arrest, on the journey to the police station and at the police station. While awaiting to be produced in court, Sahadevan was remanded for a period of 14 days. On production in court the lawyer who appeared for Sahadevan failed to advice him to inform the Magistrate of his treatment in custody. Shadevan did, however, received bail on 8 March.

The following is a statement given by Sahadeva:

I am a lower grade member of staff with the Thrissur Municipal Corporation. I am a diabetics patient and I am under treatment for a cardiac ailment also. On 5 March at about 5:20pm, while I was at home, police constable Mr. Santhosh came to my house and asked for me. Before I came out of the house, he came in and shouted at me, saying how dare I hide in my house after assaulting others in their home. On saying this he held me by my shirt and pushed me towards the wall. Then he hit me on my chest with his fist. My son was at home at the time. Then Santhosh dragged me from the house and threw me into the police jeep, which was waiting outside my house.

I was pleading with the police constable that I am innocent and I do not know what he was saying. Soon I realised that I was being taken to the police station. Then I tried to give my purse to my son. However, Santhosh grabbed the purse from my son and threw it back into the jeep. I was kept in the jeep, while the Sub Inspector Mr. Krishnan and Santhosh went around and came back with my neighbour Mr. P.M. Ajeesh.

They were beating Ajeesh as they brought him. Ajeesh was also thrown into the jeep, like me. Then the jeep started moving. Police constable Mr. Sooyan and another police constable were inside the jeep. Both of them were shouting at us in filthy language. Whilst the jeep was in motion, the Sub Inspector slapped me on my face. At the same time, Sooyan stabbed me with his lathi [hardened cane used by police]. The pain was unbearable, as was the shame of being so treated by the police in front of all my neighbours and relatives. I have no idea of the reason why I was taken into custody as I was not involved in any crime.

The jeep soon reached the police station. We were locked up. Before locking us up, our clothes were removed and we were only allowed to wear our underwear inside the police cell. At about 6:30pm the Circle Inspector of Police, Mr. Ranjan, came into the cell accompanied by another policeman. The Circle Inspector then slapped me hard on my face and also shouted at us using filthy language. Then, the Circle Inspector made all of us inside the cell jump up and down in the cell for about twenty minutes.

On the morning of the next day I came to know that I was being charge sheeted as the 7th accused in a case. I was later informed that the incident for this case was a fight which previously happened in the locality. I was produced in the court on the sixth, the day after my arrest. I was remanded by the court for 14 days; however I was released on bail the next day. When I was produced before the Magistrate I did not complain to the Magistrate about how the police treated me while I was in custody because I was not advised to by anyone.

All that I was told was to say that I am innocent, which I am, and for which I didn’t need any advice. I had informed my lawyer how I was beaten up by the police and how I was arrested but the lawyer did not make any representation with regard to this to the Magistrate, nor did the Magistrate ask me whether I was beaten by the police. Though I am undergoing treatment for the injuries I suffered, I am afraid to make any complaint against the police because I know that the moment I make any complaint they will take me into custody again and beat me up.

Case 2

Name of victim: Mr. K. R. Shiju, residing at Kizhakedathu house, Ayyapankavu, Mulayam, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Sooryan, Police Constable (PC 3475), Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
2.  Mr. Renjan, Circle Inspector of Police, Ollur Police Circle Office, Ollur, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
3. Mr. M. K. Krishnan, Sub Inspector of Police, Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
4. Mr. Santhosh, Police Constable (PC 3926), Mannuthy police station, Thrissur district, Kerala state, India
Date of incident: 5 March 2006
Place of incident: Mulayam road, Thrissur district, Kerala state

On 5 March, at around 4:30pm, Shiju was returning home from work on a motorcycle. Upon reaching Mulayam road, he was stopped by Sub Inspector Sooryan and Constable Santhosh and taken into custody. Once inside the police jeep, Shiju was forced to bend down and Sooryan hit Shiju on both sides of the spine with his elbow. He was then taken to the police station. On the way to the police station the police officers shouted at Shiju in filthy language. At the police station Shiju was further tortured. As with the previous case, Shiju was produced before the Magistrate the next day, but was not able to complain to the court about how he was arrested and treated by the police. The same lawyer who appeared for the victim in the former case appeared for Shiju. Shiju was later bailed out on 8 March.

The following is a statement given by Shiju:

On 5 March 2006 I was returning home after work. I was on a motorcycle. When I reached Mulayam road I saw the police jeep and the Sub Inspector was holding out his hand and asked the motorbike to be stopped. I thought I was being stopped for a regular paper check, which the police officers do every other day. Once the bike was stopped I was pulled down from the motorbike. Before I had time to ask why or what for, I was pulled down from the motorbike by my shirt and thrown into the police jeep. Once inside the jeep the Sub Inspector held me down by pushing me by my neck. He then started hitting me with his elbow on both sides of my spine. I was later taken to the Mannuthy police station where I was forced to remove my clothes and allowed to wear only my underwear. At about 6:30pm, on the same day, the Circle Inspector of Police Mr. Ranjan came into the cell with another police constable. Both officers then started torturing me and others in the cell. I was beaten by both police officers. Then the police officers made everyone in the cell jump up and down for about 20 minutes. During this they were shouting at us using filthy language.

On the next day I came to know that I was charged as the sixth accused in a case that happened in the neighbourhood. On the same day I was produced along with several others before the Magistrate and was remanded for 14 days. I was afraid and my friends and relatives arranged for a lawyer to appear for me and bail me out. On 8 March I was bailed out. I informed my lawyer of everything that had happened to me. However, to my knowledge, my lawyer failed to inform the Magistrate of what happened to me while I was in police custody. I am afraid to complain to anyone regarding what happened to me because the moment I complain I will be targeted again by the police. I am undergoing treatment for the injuries I sustained from the torture. I am innocent of the charges leveled against me.

The AHRC in the past has raised its concern about policing in India and the wide use of torture as a means of criminal investigation. Torture and assault, particularly in public, is used as a common tool utilised in order to subdue a person who is to being taken into custody. The first opportunity for a victim, who has been subjected to police torture, to report the matter is upon their production before a Magistrate in court. Making a complaint to the Magistrate will prompt the Magistrate to order a medical examination. Unfortunately, most lawyers who appear for accused never care to listen to the victims and fail to present the entire case before the Magistrate, thus virtually eliminating the slightest possibility of gathering any evidence on custodial torture at the early stage. Regrettably, most of these lawyers also use their contacts with various police stations to tout clients, creating a police-lawyer nexus that often prevents lawyers from making any representations against the police in court.

Other than the negligence of lawyers, India lacks a specific law criminalising torture. The only scope for prosecution of a perpetrator is to launch a private complaint and rely on the officers from the same force that is investigating the case to act, which practically rules out the impartiality quotient from such inquiries.

The above two cases reaffirm the AHRC’s observation that India lacks the adequate mechanisms to prevent police brutality and torture. India must criminalise torture and, as the initial step in an ensuing process, ratify the International Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. India has signed the convention but failed to ratify it on the pretext that existing domestic mechanisms are equipped to prevent torture, and similar violence, committed by law enforcement agencies. These two cases, however, clearly demonstrate that it is not.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to Mr. M. N. Jayaprakash, the Superintendent of Police, Thrissur District, Kerala, who is officially responsible for the initiation of an inquiry and any action taken in this matter to ensure that strong disciplinary and criminal action is taken against those police officers in this case. We request that you please send copies to the other relevant authorities mentioned below.