UPDATE (India): Custodial death of a 28-year-old man in Kerala 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that three police officers responsible for the custody and murder of a 28-year-old man, Mr. Udayakumar, was arrested and later released on bail by an order of the local magistrate. The AHRC is informed that the police officers who were arrested were detained in custody for about 90 days to complete the investigation.

While the AHRC appreciate the immediate action taken by the Kerala Police to investigate the case and to arrest the perpetrators, the AHRC call upon the local police to take all appropriate measures to guarantee that the witnesses in the crime will not be influenced or threatened in any means by the perpetrator police officers who were today released on bail. For further information about this case please see UA-181-2005.

While this very case stands apart from other cases of custodial torture and murder reported from India, merely by the fact that there was an immediate inquiry into the incident and also due to the very fact that the perpetrators, though police officers, were arrested immediately no resources must be spared to ensure the safety of the witnesses in the crime.

We call for your urgent intervention into this matter. Please send a letter to the Indian authorities urging them to take all necessary and possible steps to ensure the safety of the witnesses and to take all possible steps to prosecute the case at the trial court without any delay. As on today there is an enormous delay in prosecuting cases in India. Given the vary nature of this case since this is a crime committed by police officers and their possibilities to interfere with the witnesses in the cases of this nature must be given priority in prosecution.

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Udayakumar (28), a resident of Kezharanoor, Nedumcaud, Thirvanandapuram District, Kerala
Date and place of incident: 27 September 2005 Fort police station, Thiruvanandapuram, Kerala state, India
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Jitu Kumar
2. Mr. Sreekumar
3. Mr. Soman
All of them are attached to the Fort police station working with the Kerala State Police

Details of the case:

On 27 September 2005, at about 3:30 p.m. Mr. Udayakumar was picked up along with another person, Mr. Mani by the Thiruvanandapuram Fort Police from the Sreekanteswaram Park. They were picked up due to their alleged suspicious movements while at the park. The police searched their bodies and found a sum of Rs. 4000 (USD 88) in their possession. When the policemen asked them where the money had come from, Mr. Udayakumar and Mr. Mani gave conflicting reports regarding this.

The two men were then taken to the Fort police station, Thiruvanandapuram. It was reported that Udayakumar was severely beaten while in police custody and at around 10.30 p.m. had to be rushed to the Thiruvanandapuram General Hospital. The doctors found that his pulse was weak and therefore he was referred to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvanandapuram. The doctors at the casualty wing of the Medical College Hospital pronounced him dead on arrival.

On September 28, the cadaver of Mr. Udayakumar underwent a post mortem examination at the Medical College Hospital. The Revenue Divisional Officer did the inquest on the body while a team of doctors performed the post mortem and had it video graphed.
After the incident was reported, the City Police Commissioner, Mr. Manoj Abraham suspended police constables, after a preliminary inquiry.

LATEST INFORMATION

The accused police officers were released yesterday by the local court after considering their bail application. In India there is no existing witness protection programme. There is also no specific law in India which provides for the protection of the witnesses. The limitted possibility is a condition attached with the bail order where the court by default impose a condition that the accused must not try to tamper with the evidence in the case and also not to influence witnesses in the case by any means. Often these conditions are overlooked by the investigating agencies since the possibilities are the investigating agency once the investigation is over will hand over the case file to the court and they will see the witnesses only in court when the witnesses appear in court to give evidence and that too after 6 to 7 years. The accused in the meanwhile make use of this vacuum and take advantage of the witnesses in the case and either strike deals or threaten them to force them to change their version later in court. It is also often reported that the defense lawyers advice their clients to engage in such activities.

In this case the direct witnesses, the AHRC is informed, are those who are not related to the deceased victim, meaning which it makes it easier for the perpetrator police officers to influence them. Also there is a considerable amount of fear about police in India. Given all these circumstances it is highly probable that the accused will try to get around the witnesses in the long run which must be prevented. The AHRC also expects threats to the life of the witnesses.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please send a letter to the persons listed below and urge them to take immediate action to avoid all possibilities of the accused from interfering with the witnesses in this case and also to provide adequate protection to the witnesses in the case.

 

 

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