UPDATE (India): Delay in investigation and faulty procedures employed in examining body of unidentified man 

(Re: UG-04-2005: INDIA: Poor condition of the Basirhat Hospital morgue represents the collapse of post mortem system in West Bengal, AG-01-2004: INDIA: AHRC letter to the President of India regarding the horrendous practices during forensic examinations in West Bengal, UP-18-2004: INDIA: Post mortem procedures in West Bengal and the case of Mousumi Ari)

Dear friends,

Further to our previous urgent appeals and statements regarding police inaction, the appalling conditions of morgues and the consequent ill treatment of dead bodies, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the body of an unknown person lying near the railway tracks running from Andal to Sainthia in Birbhum District.

The villagers who found the body of the unidentified unconscious man on 24 August 2005, informed the Santhia police station and on their behest, the Suri railways police. However, the body was left unattended the entire day and it was only at 10:30pm that a Sub-Inspector from Sainthia visited the site and declared it to be dead without even summoning a medical practitioner as per the law. After completing the inquest, he then took the body to the police station where it was kept on a rickshaw, tied with a rope. A case of unnatural death was then registered (No 30/2005).

It was only at around 8:30am on August 25, that the body was sent to the Suri Government Hospital for post-mortem.

This incident is yet another glaring example of the defective policing and post-mortem procedures involved in police investigations.  The delay between the police being informed of this body, and them actually examining it, is entirely unacceptable. The young man might have been saved if the required help had arrived on time. He was then declared dead without the presence of a doctor. Subsequently he was kept in the open through out the night, which could have destroyed any evidence available to prove the cause of death.

Despite our repeated appeals and letters to the government of West Bengal regarding police conduct and the faulty procedures employed by both the police and doctors in examining dead bodies, the situation remains much the same.  As mentioned before, the very inhuman nature in which the bodies are handled and left to rot is an indicator of human values in the state and how far they are enforced and respected.

We therefore once again urge you to write to the State authorities asking them to take immediate cognisance of this issue. An investigation should also be conducted so as to establish the reasons for delay by the police in attending to their duty.

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

On 24 August 2005, at about 5:00am, the villagers of Kumratari village, Birbhum District found the unidentified body of a young man around 35 years of age, apparently unconscious, lying next to the railway tracks that run between Andal and Sainthia. The villagers soon after informed the Sainthia police station who asked them to further contact the Suri railway police as the place where the body was lying fell under their jurisdiction.

The police did not come until about 10:30pm when on the intervention of the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Mr Tarun Chattaraj, Sub-Inspector, attached to the Sainthia police station was deputed to investigate the matter. He however, declared the body dead as soon as he saw it without summoning a doctor as required by the law.

After completing the inquest, Mr Chattaraj took the body to the Sainthia police station at around midnight. The body was kept on top of a rickshaw tied with a rope and sent to the Suri Government Hospital only at 8:30am on August 25 by a cycle rickshaw accompanied by Mr Durga Pada Pal.

Callousness in handling dead bodies, as mentioned above, and exploitation of death is a crime that comes under the ambit of the term ‘torture’ according to the UN Convention against Torture. India has abstained from ratifying the convention on the ruse that the domestic legislations within the country are adequate to prevent torture in the country.

This case, however, clearly demonstrates the failure of the police in doing their duty. Correct procedures were not employed in either examining or preserving the body of the young man.

Please also see the following for further information regarding morgues, post-mortem procedures and the criminal justice system in West Bengal:

AG-01-2004: INDIA: AHRC letter to the President of India regarding the horrendous practices during forensic examinations in West Bengal
AS-09-2004: INDIA: A human body preserved like a fish and a rotten criminal justice system in West Bengal
AS-03-2004: Custodial deaths in West Bengal and India’s refusal to ratify the Convention against Torture
AS-70-2005: INDIA: Failure of the justice system means impunity for torturers
UP-18-2004: INDIA: Post mortem procedures in West Bengal and the case of Mousumi Ari
UG-04-2005: INDIA: Poor condition of the Basirhat Hospital morgue represents the collapse of post mortem system in West Bengal

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the relevant authorities listed below regarding defective policing and faulty procedures of post mortem.

 

 

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