INDIA: A detainee died due to lack of medical assistance in Maldah District Jail, West Bengal 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the death of an Under Trial Prisoner (UTP) due to lack of timely medical aid in Maldah District Jail, West Bengal, India.

According to the Maldah jail authorities, Kalu Sk (35) complained of stomach pains as soon as he was brought to the prison on 20 March 2005. He was then admitted to the small prison hospital although there were no available doctors at that time. Instead, he was kept under the supervision of a pharmacist. Interestingly, it was revealed by MASUM that another ailing prisoner named Pashua, who was admitted to the prison hospital at the same time as Kalu, was later referred to the Sadar hospital, Maldah, while Kalu was sent back to his cell at night. Kalu was declared ‘brought dead’ at the Sadar hospital where he was taken by the jail staff at 6:30am of the following day (March 21).

We once again bring to your notice about alarming rates of custodial death that has taken place in India due to inhuman and degrading condition of prisons, including lack of medical assistance, to the detainees. Prisoners are being denied their basic right to proper health care due to a complete disregard of medical infrastructure and shortage of prison doctors, by the jail authorities and the government. Mr. Satya Pal’s case will be a clear example. He has been detained in jail for about 24 years as an UTP since his arrest in Hooghly, West Bengal, India on 24 July 1979 despite his mental disease. The jail authorities and judiciary have not taken any action to provide proper medical attention to him. (See further: UA-69-2004)

Please send a letter to the Minister in charge of the Department of Jails of West Bengal requesting him to order a thorough and proper enquiry in this case and take action against the responsible jail staff. The post-mortem should also be done following strict and correct procedures and the results made public. We also urge the government of India to seriously take up the issue of shortage of doctors and medical infrastructure in jails. It is a long ensuing problem and steps ought to be implemented to overcome this problem.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victim: Kalu Sk alias Mujibar, 35 years
Address: Bhutani Village, Manikchak Police station, Maldah District, West Bengal, India
Place of incident: Maldah District Jail, West Bengal, India
Perpetrators: Jail officials of Maldah District Jail
Date of the victim’s death: 21 March 2005

Case details:

On 19 March 2005, Kalu Sk alias Mujibar (35) was charged by the Manikchak Police Station in Maldah district, West Bengal, India (Case No. 37/2000) under section 147/148/149/325/326/379/506 of the Indian Penal code). He was remanded to Maldh Dictrct Jail by the Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDJM), Maldah and sent to jail at about 3:00pm on March 20. According to the jail authorities, Kalu complained of stomach pains as soon as he reached the jail. He was admitted to the jail hospital despite the fact that there were no doctors present.

According to MASUM, there are no permanent doctors attached to this district jail. Dr D.K.Ghosh, who has been deployed on a contract with the jail, is on duty only for 4 hours in a day. However, on March 20, Dr Ghosh was not present when Kalu was taken ill and he was instead placed under the supervision of Mr Sanjay Kumar Basu, a pharmacist who was not skilled enough to take care of the ailing prisoner.

Ironically, another detainee named Pashua, who complained of stomach pains and was admitted to the prison hospital at the same time as Kalu, was referred to Sadar hospital in Maldah, while Kalu for reasons unknown was sent back to his cell at midnight without any medical treatment.

At around 6:30am on March 21, Kalu was taken by Mr Diwakar Murari, warder Maldah jail, and Mr Shyamal Saha, the sub-jailer, to the Sadar hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The post mortem was carried out by the Maldah Sadar hospital. The jail superintendent, Mr Chittaranjan Gharai, claims that the post-mortem of the body was done in the presence of the magistrate and the proceedings were video taped. He also says that all details of the case have been submitted to higher authorities. Both, the Superintendent of Police, Maldah, Mr Shashikant Pujari and the District Magistrate, Mr Abhijit Choudhery, contend that that this incident was under investigation. In the meantime, Kalu’s family raised their suspicion about his death saying that he had no record of serious health disease and was in a good condition when remanded to jail.

It is reported that the Maldah District Jail like most other jails in the country, faces a severe problem of overcrowding. Though the capacity of the jail is only 299 prisoners, it houses around 362 prisoners at present.

It is distressing to note that despite several such incidents taking place in various jails of West Bengal, the state government refuses to take concrete steps to alleviate the problem of shortage of permanent doctors, poor medical infrastructure and overcrowding in most district and sub-jails.

The AHRC urges the Government of West Bengal to immediately look into this case and ensure that a full and impartial investigation is carried out. All the jail officials responsible for this negligence should be punished. The post-mortem reports must be made public and the victim’s family should be monetarily compensated for their loss.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Situation of custodial death in West Bengal

According to the Police Regulations of Bengal (1943), for each prisoner in a lock-up there should be 36 square feet of space, and immediate medical treatment when required. Nowhere in the state are these provisions met, and despite recent court orders to address the high number of custodial deaths there, the rules are rarely applied. In fact, deaths occur daily in all government facilities, whether court lock-ups, police station lock-ups, prisons and other state centres.

Furthermore, the suffering of a victim and family does not end with death. The following are just some of the other obstacles which must overcome in any attempt to obtain a modicum of justice:

First, after the person has died, the Criminal Procedure Code (1973) requires the police to notify a magistrate to carry out an inquest. In practice, police often do not contact any magistrate, and instead conduct the inquest themselves, disposing of it in a manner as to avoid any responsibility.

Secondly, in the case of deaths in police custody, Judicial Magistrates should carry out the inquest. In West Bengal, however, Executive Magistrates do this job. The Executive Magistrates are under the Home Department, as are the police. Therefore, where inquests do occur, the alleged perpetrator (the police), prosecutor and judge all belong to the same organization.

Thirdly, for a custodial death case to go to court, the families of the victim have to initiate proceedings. However, in West Bengal, there are no independent judicial officers to handle the filing of cases. Instead, the police themselves are responsible for the keeping of records of Judicial (criminal) cases. Therefore, the family members of a victim go to lodge documents to begin a custodial death inquiry to the police, who are often friends and colleagues of the accused. Not surprisingly, the documents often disappear or they are frequently tampered with by the police, and there is no system in place to ensure that they are recorded as having been lodged.

This situation illustrates that the police control every aspect of the judicial system in West Bengal. From the time of arrest to conviction, imprisonment or death, police run the show.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax and email to the Minister in charge of the Department of Jails and urge him to order a thorough inquiry into this incident and take action against the responsible jail staff. Please also ask him to improve the situation of shortage of doctors, poor medical infrastructure and the issue of overcrowding in the jails in West Bengal.

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