CUSTODIAL DEATHS

Isha Jain
 INTRODUCTION

Custodial deaths are events of the demise of persons who are detained by police
during pretrial or after conviction. Custodial deaths can be broadly classified into
three types – Death in police custody; Death in judicial custody; and. Death in
custody of army or paramilitary force.

Custodial violence primarily refers to violence in police custody and judicial custody.
Besides death, rape and torture are two other forms of custodial violence. 

H T T P S : / / N C R B . G O V. I N / S I T E S / D E F A U LT / F I L E S / E X E C U T I V E -
S U M M A RY- 2 0 1 9 . P D F
 Articles I have read in
CLIPPINGS newspapers in relation to
custodial death cases
H T T P S : / / W W W. T H E H I N D U . C O M / N E W S / N AT I O N A L / S C - R E F U S E S - T O - I
NTERFERE-WITH-HC-ORDER-DIRECTING-CBI-TO-PROBE-ALLEGED-
C U S T O D I A L - D E AT H - C A S E / A R T I C L E 3 7 3 6 6 4 0 4 . E C E

 
H T T P S : / / W W W. T H E H I N D U . C O M / N E W S / N AT I O N A L / O T H E R - S T AT E S / PA
R E N T S - U N A B L E - T O - C O M E - T O - T E R M S - W I T H - Y O U N G - S O N S - D E AT H - I
N - U P - P O L I C E S - C U S TO D Y / A RT I C L E 3 7 4 4 4 5 0 2 . E C E

 
H T T P S : / / W W W. T H E H I N D U . C O M / N E W S / N AT I O N A L / O T H E R - S T AT E S / U P
- G O V T- S H O U L D - R E F O R M - I T S - P O L I C E - S Y S T E M - S AY S - M AYA WAT I - O N
- S A N I T AT I O N - W O R K E R S - C U S T O D I A L - D E AT H / A R T I C L E 3 7 1 0 7 5 5 7 . E C E

 
H T T P S : / / W W W. T H E H I N D U . C O M / N E W S / C I T I E S / H Y D E R A B A D / I M P L E A
D - C B I - I N - P L E A - O V E R - W O M A N S - C U S T O D I A L - D E AT H - H C - T E L L S - P U C
L / A RT I C L E 3 7 4 2 4 8 8 6 . E C E

 
H T T P S : / / W W W. T H E H I N D U . C O M / N E W S / N AT I O N A L / F I V E - C U S T O D I A L -
 What does the law say about
THE LAW custodial death and/or
custodial torture?
 C U S TO D I A L V I O L E N C E

Custodial violence is not a recent phenomenon. Sections 330, 331 & 348 of IPC;
Sections 25 & 26 of the Indian Evidence Act; Section 76 of CrPC and Section 29 of the
Police Act, 1861 were enacted to curb the tendency of policemen to resort to torture
to extract confessions etc.
 SO MANY ARTICLES TO CONTROL WHAT IS HAPPENING, BUT ARE THEY
ACTUALLY ENFORCED? THE REAL ANSWER? NO. THE MAIN CAUSE BEING
THE OPAQUENESS OF DATA. I WON’T EVEN SAY TRANSLUCENCE.
BECAUSE IT IS OPAQUE. THIS DATA IS TILL 2002, ON THE WEBSITE OF
THE LEGAL SERVICES OF INDIA. NOW MANY OF YOU WOULD BE
SCEPTICAL ABOUT THE SOURCE OF THE DATA AND THE RELIABILITY.
TO CLEAR THOSE, HERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT RECORDS OF CUSTODIAL
DEATHS. I HAVE NOT DONE A DETAILED SEARCH BECAUSE I WANTED TO
SEE WHAT THE COMMON MAN WOULD SEE IF HE SIMPLY GOOGLED THE
OFFICIAL STATISTICS FOR CUSTODIAL DEATHS. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS
OFFICIAL SITE SHOWS NO RECORDS AFTER 2013. LET ME SHOW YOU
ONE MORE SCREENSHOT I OBTAINED.
 THIS IS THE SECOND ARTICLE THAT OPENS UP WHEN YOU SEARCH
“CUSTODIAL DEATHS REPORTED BY STATE GOVERNMENT STATISTICS”. I
WOULD LIKE TO BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO THE HIGHLIGHTED AREA.
IF WHAT IS WRITTEN IS TRUE, WHICH I WOULD ASSUME IT TO BE
CONSIDERING THIS IS AN ARTICLE BY THE DAILY GUARDIAN, THEN THE
AMBIGUITY THAT EXISTS IN GOVT RECORDS IS CLEARLY VISIBLE.
S O W H AT CAN WE DO?
 W H AT W E C A N D O
 Demanding information
 Holding the officials responsible
 Spreading awareness

We need our govt to be more accountable for its actions. We need the people to be
more aware of what is happening in the country. It would be easy to shut your eyes
and ears to this information and just use your mouth to advocate for the party that
you prefer. But we need to start looking at politics as a medium to a greater country,
not just a platform for muddy accusations. We need to DEMAND information.
THANK YOU