AHRC UA Index:000504 4 May 2000
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UA 24/00: Torture, illegal detention, death in custody
INDIA: Man killed, women and children tortured during illegal detention
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We have received very reliable information describing the torture, molestation and illegal detention of at least 12 women, and 2 minors, in connection with the torture, illegal detention and murder of a man in Chennai, Tamil Nadu State in the South of India. The man murdered is one Nathan, s/o Nagappan of Chennai, who died on Febraury 17, 2000. All of these serious human rights violations were at the hands of the police at the F-1 Chintadripet Police Station, Chennai between the 10th and 17th of February 2000. The events are summarized below.
CASE OF NATHAN
Nathan, s/o Nagappan, of Chennai was detained on 10/2/2000 by plain clothes police in a private car in connection with the robbery of the ‘Bombay Electronics’ store in Chennai. He was taken to the F-1 Police Station and seriously tortured, by using needles tied together and inserted under his nails, being cut on the inside of his mouth and forced to swallow liquor, being tied to window bars and beaten among other means. He was detained until his death. According to his wife, Sala, who was with him through the entire period of his detention, he was not even coherent, nor able to eat, speak or walk properly from 13/2/2000.
The police and magistrate claim that Nathan appeared in court on the 16th, while the women who had been detained claim he never left the police station on that day. Either way, Nathan died the next day (17/2/2000), from the injuries he had received at the hands of the police.
CASE OF THE WOMEN
11/2 Sala, Nathan’s wife taken in and tortured by bending her fingers backwards over a pen and forcing her to bend over a stool and beating her
12/2 Renuka, Bhavani, Umayavalli, Chelli, Amutha all detained and tortured – grabbed by the hair, beaten on the back and buttocks, verbally abused and sexually molested.
13/2 Torture and illegal detention of women: Nagarani, Palayam, Kannagi and Veerammal (mother of Nathan), Velankanni and Nagarani’s daughter Indira, 24, were all beaten, verbally abused, molested, and their hands injured.
The women were detained illegally at F-1 station during day, where tortured, then most were detained at the All-Women’s Police Station at night from 11pm under different, false names entered in prison records. This is clearly an offence of wrongful confinement and violates section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. None were brought before a court, even though they were detained for much longer than the maximum 24 hours allowed before they must be brought to court by the police.
Many of the women named a particular policeman Venkatesh who was the most brutal amd abusive, encouraging the other police to help him torture the detainees. The women also claimed that the police were in a drunken state for much of the time of their illegal detention.
CASE OF THE CHILDREN
13/2 The two minor children of Nathan, Anand and Mani, were also taken to the police station, beaten, abused, stripped naked and threatened by Venkatesh and other police. Anand was pierced with a needle in his genitalia. Mani was detained until the night of 16/2, Anand until the morning of 17/2. They were also forced to watch the police torture their parents and other illegal detainees.
BACKGROUND
From the 1998 US State Department’s report on Human Rights in India: \”The law prohibits torture, and confessions extracted by force are generally inadmissible in court. Nevertheless, torture is common throughout the country, and authorities often use torture during interrogations. In other instances, they torture detainees to extort money and sometimes as summary punishment.\”
From Amnesty International’s 1999 Report on India: \”Thousands of political prisoners…were detained without charge or trial. Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread, and hundreds of people were reported to have died in custody. Conditions in many prisons amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
From the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre: \”Torture is a sanctioned practice in the administration of justice in India. The police regularly violate the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the guidelines for the use of fire arms. Torture, extortion, and rape take place with impunity in police custody across the country.\”
This is not an isolated case, but part of a pattern of police brutality that continues unabated and with impunity. Some of the brutality in this case may relate to the crime involved – robbery of a successful business. In such cases, businesses may ‘generously assist’ police in finding the culprit (offering use of a car, providing gifts, etc.), which encourages the police to use any means possible to get the money back. Also, police may be able to find ways to extort suspects or to ‘skim off’ some of the money recovered.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Write to the President and the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, with a copy to the head of the National Human Rights Commission, requesting that an immediate, independent enquiry into the illegal detention, molestation and torture of the women and children named in this appeal, and the death of Nathan.
Please also include the following recommendations, made by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), who conducted the fact-finding mission:
1. All police officials responsible for the death of Nathan be charged for murder and prosecuted immediately before the Human Rights Court;
2. The investigation into the case be done by a high police official of known integrity, since the accused themselves are police personnel; the accused be charged and prosecuted for illegal confinement, causing grievous hurt and molestation of the women and children; stern action be taken against the officials who violated the Juvenile Justice Act 1986; and an identification parade be immediately conducted so that the women can identify the police officials who are responsible for the death of Nathan and for the torture and molestation of the women and children;
3. Post-mortem reports be made public documents and the victims and human rights organisations given access to these documents;
4. Compensation be given to all the women and children who suffered illegal detention, torture and sexual molestation in the hands of the police;
5. The RDO enquiry be prevented from protracting or stalling the investigation into crimes committed by police officials;
6. Contempt proceedings be initiated against all police personnel concerned with violation of the directions given by the Supreme Court in respect to providing arrest memos;
7. Every Magistrate make the provision of a proof of service of arrest memo a pre-condition for remanding any arrested person to either police or judicial custody;
8. All Women Polic Stations not be used as illegal detention centres for women.
SEND APPEALS TO
President K. R. Narayan
Office of the President
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
FAX: 91 11 301 7290
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
South Block Gate NO. 6
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
Fax: 91 11 301 9817
Email: pressecy@alpha.nic.in
Hon. Dr. M. Karunanidhi
Chief Minister
Tamil Nadu State
Secretariat
Chennai 600009
INDIA
FAX: 91 44 536 6929
EMAIL: <cmsec@sec.tn.nic.in>
CC COPIES TO
Justice J. S. Verma
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhavan
Sandas Marg
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
Fax: 91 – 11 336 6537
Email: <nhrc_del@nicgw.nic.in>
