The recent alleged custodial death of Sompal (24), a vegetable vendor in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar police station, has once again sparked the debate about rising custodial deaths across the country. It has also fuelled the demand for a strong anti-custodial torture law in the country.
Sompal’s family members have said that they have not yet received Sompal’s post-mortem report. “We are seeking justice and those who are responsible must be punished. My nephew was the lone caretaker of his ageing parents,” said Goverdhan, Sompal’s uncle.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and sent a notice to the Delhi Police.
The Commission has also called for a detailed report in the matter within six weeks.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report published in August 2016, the Delhi Police had around 13,000 complaints of custodial torture registered against its personnel last year. This amounts to over 24% of the total complaints registered against police personnel across the nation. Out of all the complaints of torture, including death, no policeman has been convicted in cases of custodial death or disappearance from police custody in 2015-2016, except a lone 77-year-old policeman who was sent to jail in connection with a custodial death.
Suicide has been found to be the biggest reason for custodial deaths across the country, according to the NCRB study. In the recent case of alleged killing of vegetable vendor Sompal, the family members have accused the police of trying the same old method of turning a killing into a suicidal death.
Even the Supreme Court has stressed on the need for an anti-custodial torture law. While hearing a PIL filled by ex-Law Minister and Congress leader Ashwani Kumar, this year on 9 January, the apex court has sought a response from the NHRC to be furnished within a month on anti-custodial torture law.
“The absence of a clear anti-custodial torture law has left room for the police personnel to carry on their bullying. We are expecting clear guidelines that are schedule to come next month from the Supreme Court to control custodial torture,” Ramesh Kumar, president of Human Rights Protection Network, said.
“Police have been flouting the SC rules intended to prevent custodial deaths and ‘routinely violate’ the rights of the criminal prescribed by the domestic and international laws on arrest and detention,” Kumar said.
Sompal was detained in the Adarsh Nagar Police Station, where, during questioning, he was allegedly thrashed by three constables. Five policemen, including a Station House Officer of Adarsh Nagar police station, have been booked for culpable homicide amounting to murder.