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Register FIR against Uttar Pradesh police, CHRI insists

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 22, May 2013, 17:07 pm IST | UPDATED: 23, May 2013, 11:45 am IST

Register FIR against Uttar Pradesh police, CHRI insists New Delhi: In a recently published report of The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) a murder accused died, allegedly, of complications after the Uttar Pradesh Police personnel injected him with acid and petrol in Etah district to extract a confession. 

CHRI urged the Uttar Pradesh Police to register and FIR against the cops involved for such barbarity at the very earliest and appeals to the government that such persons be weeded out from the force as mere suspensions are not enough to curb growing police brutality.

It is a fact that a confession in front of the police is not admissible in the court of the law and this incident speaks volumes about the manner in which the police goes about doing its investigative duties. CHRI also urges that such victims of police oppression be adequately compensated by the court.

Maja Daruwala, Director Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said that "Everyone knows that beatings and extreme violence are common practice.  It is because the police have been allowed to get away with brutality that we see these incidents occur. They are not rare or unusual  and the State must step in to put a stop it once and for all"

On the need for an adequate mechanisms, CHRI also called on the Government to enact/pass Prevention of Torture Bill that would check rampant abuse and torture by the police. But it is now sixteen years since the Indian government promised to ratify the international Covenant Against Torture and it is more than two years since a bill to deal specifically with torture was first introduced in parliament. It must be known that the Bill lies in cold storage as after being passed by the Lok Sabha and after the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha revised it, it lies with the Ministry of Home Affairs. There is nothing to indicate that the government is interested to introduce it in the Parliament again.

CHRI also highlighted the need for an external oversight body that would look into alleged police abuse. The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment in 2006 had called on the states for setting up police complaints authorities at the state and district level however except for Arunachal Pradesh, no state government has established Police Complaints Authorities. Uttar Pradesh is one of the states that have completely ignored this directive. In fact majority 97 per cent of the states are non compliant with this directive.