Skip to main content

Custodial death of Muslim youth: Govt of India told to ratify UN convention on torture

Counterview Desk 
Kirity Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), and national convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), Hooghly, West Bengal, in a representation to the chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has drawn to the custodial death of a Muslim youth following his torture in police custody after registering a "false case" based on manufactured records.
Seeking "proper investigation" the whole incident, Roy in his plea insists, the incident legitimizes his organisations' long-standing demand "for immediate ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment."

Text:

Here I want to draw your kind attention to one incident of custodial torture by the Deganga police personnel and the subsequent custodial death of one Muslim man from the Other Backward Class community in Dum Dum Central Correctional Home.
The name of the victim is Kutubuddin Mondal, son of late Ahamed Mondal, resided at Kharua Chandpur village under the jurisdiction of Deganga Police Station in the district of North 24 Parganas. This incident again proves how the perpetrator's police and jail authority is enjoying full impunity even after being responsible for the custodial death of a victim and irresponsible attitude toward the family members of the victim.
In this incident, the victim was allegedly falsely charged in a case of the Arms Act. He was arrested on April 5, 2022 at about 12.30 am from his own house by police personnel of Deganga Police Station. No memo of arrest was prepared during the time of arrest of Kutubuddin.
In the police custody at Deganga Police station, the victim was brutally tortured and mercilessly beaten by the perpetrator police personnel. From police custody, he was transferred to Dum Dum Central Correctional Home on April 5, 2022 following the direction of the court.
His health condition deteriorated and for this reason, he was sent to the SSKM Hospital. The victim died on April 11, 2022 at about 4.10 pm in the SSKM hospital. In the following fact finding, I'll narrate the details of the incident in this respect.
The family members of the victim were not informed when his health condition deteriorated and even after his death. On April 12, 2022 at about 10 am one civic volunteer of Deganga Police Station came to the house of the victim and informed Kutubuddin died on April 11, 2022 at about 4.10 pm at SSKM Hospital. That means the family members were informed after 18 hours of the death of the victim.
Bhawanipur Police Station initiated an unnatural death case (case number 436/22 dated April 13, 2022). After two days of the victim’s death, an unnatural death case was registered. The process of the inquest was not done in the right way. After two days after the victim’s death, the inquest was done by one magistrate.
The family members of the victim were not sure of the actual designation of the magistrate but they informed that the said magistrate did not examine the deceased, just took note of the details of the victim and went away. This is a violation of section 174/176(1)(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
There is a confusion regarding the date of death of the victim. Our fact finding member talked with Bhawanipur Police Station. Bhawanipur police informed that on April 12, 2022 at about 4.10 pm Kutubuddin Mondal died in SSKM Hospital.
If we take this information as true, then how the civic volunteer of Deganga police station came and informed the family members of the victim about the death of Kutubuddin on April 12, 2022 at 10 am? If Kutubuddin died on April 12, 2022 at about 4.10 pm, then why the unnatural death case (Bhawanipur PS U/D case number 436/22 dated April 13, 2022) was registered on the next day i.e, on April 13, 2022?
On April 14, 2022 Ruma Bibi, wife of the victim lodged one written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Barasat Police District regarding the above-stated incident but till date, no action has been taken against the perpetrators. Even the complainant is unaware whether her complaint was treated as FIR or not.
This again violates section 154 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure where it is mandated for mandatory registration of FIR after receiving any information of cognizable offences and without any cost provides one copy of FIR to the complainant.
The incident proves how police and jail authorities enjoy full impunity even after being responsible for the custodial death of a victim
The involved perpetrators violated the basic premise of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution as well as Articles 3, 5 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international obligations stated in Article 6 (1) and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the Goal number 16 of Sustainable Development Goal earmarked by United Nations and in both these international instruments; the government of India is a party and have an agreement.
The incident and subsequent impunity legitimize our long-standing demand for immediate ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment.
I demand:
  • This case should be investigated by the investigation wing of NHRC or state CID.
  • The erring police personnel of Deganga Police station and other police personnel related to this case who tortured the victim mercilessly in the police custody and tried to hide the truth of the case must be booked under appropriate legal provisions and be tried in an open court of law.
  • The Unnatural Death case initiated by Bhawanipur Police Station on April 13, 2022 must be investigated properly under the appropriate penal provision.
  • CCTV footage of police custody of Deganga Police Station on April 5, 2022 from 12.00 to 10.00 am should be checked by your Commission.
  • Jail hospital records, SSKM Hospital records and Inspection Memo and Memo of Arrest should be scrutinized properly.
  • Disciplinary action should be taken against the concerned magistrate who without examining the body of the deceased just note down the details of the victim.
  • Written complaint of Ruma Bibi, wife of the victim, dated April 14, 2022 must be treated as an FIR and the perpetrators should be arrested for the sake of proper investigation of the case.
  • As this case is in nature of systematic violation of criminal justice administration of West Bengal, the role performed by them should be checked thoroughly.
  • NHRC’s ‘Revised Guidelines/ Procedures to be followed in courses of deaths caused in police action’ must be adhered to in letter and spirit.
  • The family must be provided with financial compensation and adequate safety and security of the family members and witnesses must be ensured.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan  In a groundbreaking  study  spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.
Post a Comment
»

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram  India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.
Post a Comment
»

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.
59 comments
»

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah  Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.
Post a Comment
»

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra  Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today. 
Post a Comment
»

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat
1 comment
»

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By  A  Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.
Post a Comment
»

May the Earth Be Auspicious: Vedic ecology and contemporary crisis in Ashok Vajpeyi’s poetry

By Ravi Ranjan*  Ashok Vajpeyi, born in 1941, occupies a singular position in contemporary Hindi poetry as a poet whose work quietly but decisively reorients modern literary consciousness toward ethical, ecological, and civilizational questions. Across more than six decades of writing, Vajpeyi has forged a poetic idiom marked by restraint, philosophical attentiveness, and moral seriousness, resisting both rhetorical excess and ideological simplification. 
Post a Comment
»

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah  A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”
Post a Comment
»