INDIA: A torture victim is forced to give bribes to his perpetrator while the police fabricate charges against him 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Vigil India Movement that a man named P.K. Joy was illegally detained in police custody and brutally tortured by head constable Sugathan of the Ettumanoor Police Station, Kottayam, Kerala with the concurrence of Sub-inspector (SI) George on 26 April 2003. More seriously, Joy was continuously intimidated by Sugathan and forced to give him money on several occasions after being tortured. After Joy made a complaint against Sugathan, his complaint infuriated the Ettumanoor Police and they are now hunting for Joy. It is also alleged that the Ettumanoor Police attempted to implicate Joy in a criminal case by making a false complaint in order to save their face and hush up the torture of Joy.

Even though several recommendations were made by the Police Directorate, Kerala Lok Ayukta and Superintendent of Police A.P. George for the police to conduct a departmental inquiry into this case, to date no departmental action has been taken, nor has any crime been registered against head constable Sugathan or SI P.J. George. On 3 May 2004 the High Court of Kerala was petitioned with regard to Joy’s case and the petition was admitted on 19 May 2004.

Your urgent action is required to pressure the local authorities to prosecute the responsible officer(s) and provide protection to the victim immediately.

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

Name of the victim: P.K. Joy, a merchant, Ettumanoor, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Alleged perpetrators:
1) Mr. Sugathan, Police constable attached to the Ettumanoor Police Station
2) Mr. P. J. George, Sub-Inspector attached to the Ettumanoor Police Station

Case details:

P.K. Joy of Ettumanoor, Kottayam (Kerala) is a small-scale merchant. On the night of 7 March 2003, his neighbor Thomas Joseph was attacked by two assailants and was injured in the vicinity of Joy’s store. Joy was not involved in the attack.

On 26 April 2003, at around noon, the head constable Sugathan of the Ettumanoor Police Station, who was in fact not on duty that day, called Joy’s house and Joy’s mother received the phone call. Sugathan told her that he wanted to question her son about his former employee, who was a suspect of the attack on Thomas Joseph. After receiving the message from his mother, Joy, his father and his driver met with a Panchayath member who contacted P.J. George, the sub-inspector (SI) of the Ettumanoor Police Station. The SI reiterated the request for Joy’s presence at the police station. Joy, his father, his driver and the Panchayath member went to the Ettumanoor Police Station. At the police station, SI George questioned Joy and asked him to wait in another room. Meanwhile the Panchayathmember left the police station.

After that, head constable Sugathan entered the room where Joy was and began to verbally abuse Joy. Sugathan ordered Joy to remove his shirt and started to beat him on his face and abdomen. Sugathan then removed Joy’s belt and took his mobile phone and purse, after which he again started to brutally assault Joy on his abdomen and face with his hands and fists. Afterwards, Joy was stripped to his underwear and forced into a lock-up where the brutal attack continued. When witnessing Sugathan’s brutal torture on his son, Joy’s father rushed to the local office of the Marxist Party. After hearing his story, the area secretary called the SI and asked him not to torture Joy and to release him. However, the SI refused to do so. While he was in the police custody, Sugathan seriously tortured Joy for several hours. He was released when his father returned with Advocate Sasikumar at around 8:00 pm.

Upon his release, Sugathan removed Rs.200 (US $4) from Joy’s purse. He also threatened him into coming to the police station the next day and paying more bribes to him in order to avoid “serious consequences”. To ensure this, Sugathan obtained a written undertaking from Joy’s father and driver. All this took place with the consent and concurrence of SI George. Immediately after being released from the police station, Joy was taken to the Medical College Hospital where he underwent treatment for his injuries. The doctors who examined him discovered 30% hearing loss in Joy’s left ear as a result of the torture and they said that Joy would have a permanent hearing impairment. Joy made a complaint against head constable Sugathan to the Kerala State Human Rights Commission. However, his complaint infuriated the Ettumanoor Police and they are now hunting for Joy.

In the meantime, Joy continuously received threats and demands for money from head constable Sugathan. Conspiring with a criminal known by the alias “Baby”, Sugathan threatened Joy and asked for money several times.

On 30 April 2003, Joy with the help of the People’s Movement for Human Rights (PMHR) filed a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, the Director General of Police, the Chief Minister-Kerala and the Kerala State Human Rights Commission with regard to the bribery and assault. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission later directed that the Circle Inspector of Police (CIP) hold an enquiry about this case. However, it was reported that the CIP in turn issued a false report on 23 May 2003 stating that Joy’s complaint was without substance. In addition, on 5 May 2003, a private complaint was lodged by Joy’s neighbor Thomas Joseph regarding the attack on him that had taken place two month ago. This second complaint was made just nine days after the police torture of Joy. The new case was highly exaggerated. Joy and PMHR were concerned that the police are attempting to implicate Joy as the accused of the Thomas Joseph case in order to hush up their illegal torture of Joy and save their face. Joy, who began to realize that he might not be able to get justice, petitioned the court for anticipatory bail on 26 May 2003, fearing that he may soon be implicated in a non-bailable offence. The Kottyam Criminal Court deemed the grievance “well-founded” and the apprehension of arrest “reasonable” and granted anticipatory bail to Joy.

Complaint 331/03 was registered by Joy against Sugathan and was investigated by the Police Directorate. The directorate recommended Sugathan be dealt with departmentally and Joy compensated. However, not only did the police fail to take departmental action against the perpetrators and to compensate Joy, but they also failed in their duty as police officers to register a crime against Sugathan and P.J. George. This illustrates how the police are trying to protect those responsible for the torture of Joy and pervert the course of justice. By virtue of the failure of the police to take action in this regard, on 2 June 2003 Complaint No. 331/03 was filed before the Kerala Lok Ayukta against head constable Sugathan alleging manhandling, torture and bribery.

In the mean time, Superintendent of Police, A.P. George, submitted an enquiry report into the complaint on 13 October 2003. The report suggested that a departmental enquiry was necessary into the manhandling and bribery. The report went on to state that Head Constable Sugathan had confirmed that Joy was not an accused in the criminal case. The report deemed the first account of the attack given by Thomas Joseph to be “very true and correct” and the second to be a “highly exaggerated version” of the event. Furthermore, later, Thomas Joseph confirmed that he did not make such accusations against Joy on 5 May 2003.

On 4 February 2004 the Kerala Lok Ayukta recommended that Director General of Police order a departmental enquiry into the actions of the head constable Sugathan and that compensation be claimed from the latter. Furthermore, a copy of Complaint 331/03 and the enquiry report of Superintendent A.P. George were sent to the Director General of Police as well. However, according to Joy, no departmental action has been taken to date nor has any crime been registered against the head constable Sugathan or SI P.J. George. Moreover, no attempt has been made by the Director General or by the State of Kerala to compensate Joy. Joy sent a second letter to the Director General of Police on 1 March 2004 requesting him to take action regarding the torture and bribery he endured at the hands of Ettumanoor police. On 3 May 2004 the High Court of Kerala was petitioned with regard to Joy’s case and the petition was admitted on 19 May 2004.

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