INDIA: Custodial death of a man in Kharagpur due to severe torture by Railway Protection Force 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the death of a man due to severe torture by the Railway Police Force on 28 October 2005 in Kharagpur, Medinipore District, West Bengal.

On October 20, the railway protection force (RPF) arrested the victim, Seikh Safibul from his house as he was alleged to have committed a theft from a diesel shop belonging to the Kharagpur railway the day before.

It is also alleged that after his arrest, he was severely beaten and tortured and also given electric shocks by the RPF personnel while in their custody. On October 21, the Medinipore court ordered him to go for medical treatment which he underwent until October 23. He was once again admitted to the Medinipore medical college and subsequently died there on October 28.

Seikh’s wife lodged a complaint with the Kharagpur Town police station under Indian Penal Code sections 342, 340 and 506 (case no 171/2005). However, no action has been taken as yet. Unfortunately no death certificate has been issued to date by the Medinipore Medical College Hospital and the report of either the postmortem or the magisterial inquest has also not been released.

We therefore call for your urgent intervention. Please ask the Director General of Police to order an impartial inquiry into this incident and see that the perpetrators are duly punished. Adequate compensation must also be granted to the family of the victim.

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

Victim: Seikh Safibul, age 55 years
Address: Santinagar, Kharagpur Police Station, Medinipore District, West Bengal, India
Place of incident: Railway Protection Force Cell (East Post), Kharagpur
Alleged perpetrators:
1. M.K. Singh
2. B.C. Mallick
3. M. Bharda
4. D.N. Singh
5. J.N. Singh
6. R.K. Sahoo
7. Amiya Nandan Singh, Senior Security Officer, Kharagpur Division
(All the above belong to the Railway Protection Force, East Post, Kharagpur)

Case Details:

Seikh Safibul, 55-years-old and the owner of a spare parts and scrap iron shop was arrested from his house on October 20 by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) as they alleged he had committed a theft from a diesel shop belonging to the Kharagpur Railway the day before.

It is alleged that Seikh was severely tortured, beaten and even given electric shocks while in the custody of the RPF on the day of his arrest. On October 21, he was produced before the Magistrate’s court, Medinipore. The victim was so ill that he could barely submit his statement before the court and seeing his condition, the court ordered for his treatment. He was then admitted to the Medinipore Medical College and Hospital and after primary treatment was taken to the Sub-divisional Hospital in Kharagpur.

On October 24, Seikh was once again submitted to the Medinipore Medical College and Hospital in a critical state and died there on October 28.

The victim’s wife, Sabera Bibi lodged a complaint against the perpetrators under Indian Penal Code sections 342, 340 and 506 (case no 171/2005) at the Kharagpur Town police station. It is to be noted that the investigating officer of this case is Mr. Dilip Kumar Roy, Officer-in-Charge at the Kharagpur Town Police Station.

On the day of Seikh’s death, the people of Santinagar protested by blocking the roads near the Kharagpur bus stand demanding the arrest and suspension of the Officer-in-Charge of the Railway Protection Force (East Post). A statement given by Mr. Lakshikant Ghosh., the Superintendent of the Medical College and Hospital, Medinipore confirms that Seikh was admitted to the hospital with deep injuries on his head and shoulder, which were x-rayed. The victim’s son, Kallu, says that his father was severely beaten and had injury marks on various parts of his body. Sabeera also alleges that her husband was beaten to death because he failed to offer bribes to the police, which he had done earlier.

To date no death certificate has been issued by the hospital authorities. The postmortem report is yet to be released and no findings of the magisterial inquest have been given.

We strongly condemn this torture at the hands of those very people who are supposed to provide security and enforce laws. The perpetrators must be immediately suspended from service and the all records regarding the crime must be made public so as to reduce the risk of tampering by the perpetrators. The perpetrators also must be made to pay compensation to the relatives of the victim. To ensure all these investigation of the case MUST be handled by an independent unit, outside the parameters of the local RPF Station. This case is yet another clear example where investigation into cases of custodial violence often lacks avenues for transparency and impartiality. Given the Indian context, it is extremely risky to entrust the investigation of the case with the same officers responsible for the command of the police station where the crime was committed.

India has refused to ratify the Convention against Torture on the pretext that the domestic law and the mechanisms available are capable enough in dealing with the crime. However, torture in custody is on the increase in India, whereas the perpetrators are left unpunished. We therefore urge the Government of India to ratify the Convention against Torture at the earliest and introduce domestic legislations to prevent such cases in the future.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Director General of Police to order an impartial inquiry into this incident and see that the perpetrators are duly punished and the victim’s family is adequately compensated for their loss.

 

 

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