Home / News / Urgent Appeals / INDIA: A young man was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured in West Bengal
 

INDIA: A young man was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured in West Bengal

September 23, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

24 September 2003

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UA-53-2003: INDIA: A young man was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured in West Bengal

INDIA: Illegal arrest and detention; Torture; Custodial death
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Babai Biswas, 22, was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured. I urge you to take strong and immediate action to correct this matter.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
------------------------------------------------------------

Name of victim: Babai Biswas (22 years old)
Perpetrators:
1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Inspector of Police, the then Officer in Charge (OIC) of the
Thakurpukur Police Station
2) Avijit Sengupta, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police(D.S.P) (Town) Jadavpur,
(now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police)
3) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of District Hospital
4) Dr. S.C. Tudu
5) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate
6) Benu Das, Sub Inspector of police
Period of detention and torture: from 8 April to 9 April 1997
Current status of the case: pending at court

DETAILED INFORMATION:

Babai Biswas, 22, was arrested at 6/56/1 Bijoygarh Golony by police officers, led by the Sub Inspector (SI) Amrita Kumar Majumdar, on 8 April 1997. The police took him to the Keorapukur Temporary Outpost, then to the Thakurpukur police station lock-up, and from there to Jadavpur Dist. 24 Parganas (South), to the chamber of Mr. Avijit Sen Gupta (Deputy Superintendent of Police). On 9 April 1997 at about 2:00pm, the police brought Babai’s dead body to the Bangur Hospital. Dr. Tudu declared Babai dead, and refused to give the police a death certificate with the cause of death as 'natural.' The police then contacted Dr. Sunil Ghosh, the officiating District Medical Officer, who directed Dr. Tudu to issue a death certificate stating Cardiac Respiratory Failure.

Mr. G.C.Saha, the Executive Magistrate, examined the body at about 11:00pm on 10 April although he had never examined a body at night before. He also admitted to having "a few talks" with Avijit Sengupta, DSP (Town) before he went to the morgue of M.R.Bangur Hospital. Shri Saha only recorded an abrasion on the left forearm.

The post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr. A. K. Nandi of the Department of Forensic & State Medicines, Calcutta. The following are examples of the 29 injuries found on the body of Babai Biswas, contrary to the findings of the Executive Magistrate:-

(1) Linear abrasion 1" placed obliquely over lateral margin of Rt. upper eyelid.
(2) HAEMATOMA 7" X 5" over Rt. flexor of large intestine.
(3) Interior surface of Rt. lobe of liver adherence of clotted blood over an area of 1 ½" in diameter.
(4) Omentum related to intestinal coiles contain blood all along the mysentery including the adjacent areas of intestine.
(5) Evidence of about one of litre liquid and clotted blood inside the abdominal cavity.

According to the forensic expert, the injuries were caused by the application of brute force, and were ante-mortem and homicidal in nature.

According to police, Babai was arrested due to a complaint made by Babua Chakraborty. However, Babua Chakraborty stated before the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) that he had made no such complaint. Police also said they seized a revolver loaded with 3 live cartridges from Babai. In the seizure list prepared by the police, Mr. Lakshman Samanta and Mr. Sanjay Mondal were recorded as witnesses, but they later stated before the WBHRC that they neither saw Babai when he was arrested, nor did they see the seizure of the revolver from Babai Biswas. They said that they were called to Keorapukur by police on 10 April 1997 and were compelled to sign a document without knowing its contents. Afraid of disobeying, they signed.

In an attempt to show that on the night of 8 April 1997 Babai was assaulted by some criminals, the police brought a case against Papan and others for allegedly assaulting Babai on the night of 8 April 1997. The evidence of this case was an alleged letter mentioning the assault from one Pinku Gayen, an absconded criminal wanted in a number of cases. However, Smt. Swapna Andrew, the aunt of Pinku with whom he used to live, testified to the WBHRC that the letter was not the handwriting of Pinku. (See: - WBHRC Annual Report, 1997-1998). Then the WBHRC submitted a detailed report to the state government that the policemen had murdered Babai in custody.

After this WBHRC submission, the Late Amal Narayan Biswas, father of the victim, filed a First Information Report (FIR) on 10 April 1997. The police later said that the report was missing. The police then filed the case and submitted a Charge Sheet against 1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Insp. Of Police, the then Officer in Charge of Thakurpukur PS; 2) Amrita K Majumdar SI (committed suicide after initiation of police case) 3) Avijit Sengupta, the then DSP (Town) Jadavpur, (now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police), 4) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of the District Hospital, Tudu 6) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate, Benu Das, Sub-inspector.

The Judicial Magistrate (JM), Alipur, brought the trial to the Court of Session. The father of the victim, raised an objection to the improper manner of the police investigations, but the JM rejected this petition. Thereafter, the victim's father went to the High Court under its Criminal Revisional Jurisdiction, and this case is still pending.

Aside from this, the father of the victim also filed a petition to the Supreme Court of India for clarification of what he believed were unjust proceedings in the Court of Sessions. However, the Supreme Court directed the trial to continue at the Court of Sessions and did not conduct its own investigation of the case.

The mother of the victim, Smt. Ava Biswas, also sought permission for an appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor on her behalf, but the court turned her down, as did the Legal Remembrancer, Government of West Bengal.

The Court of Sessions directed the Investigating Officer of the case to produce the seized documents relevant for the case, but the prosecution did not produce them, and on 29 June 2001 the Public Prosecutor pleaded that a good number of vital seized documents had been "destroyed" and / or "completely damaged due to rain and white ants." The Judge allowed the suggestion of the police, although all of the documents were to be judicial records. Against that order, Ava Rani Biswas directed an enquiry by a senior officer of the Crimes Investigation Dept. (CID) to trace the seized document. This never-ending legal battle continues.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below expressing your concern about this serious case.

1. Dr. P.P.J. Abdul Kalam
President
Office of the President,
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi, 110004
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), 3014507 (Personal Secretary)
Fax: +91 11 3017290, 3014570
Email: presssecy@alpha.nic.in or Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in

2. Shri Justice A S Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Sardar Patel Bhawan
Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 2334 0891 / 2334 7065
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-Mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

3. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
Chief Minister
Government of West Bengal
Fax: +91 33 22145480
Email: cm@wb.gov.in

4. Shri Justice Mukul Gopal Mukherji
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani bhavan, Alipore,
Calcutta-700027
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633

5. Mr. Nisith Adhikary
Minister in Charge, Judicial Department
Government of West Bengal
Fax: +91 33 2214 4036
Email: micjudicial@wb.gov.in

6. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917-9016
E-mail: <mailto:secrt.hchr@unog.ch>secrt.hchr@unog.ch

7. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 92 42 5763 234
Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

Suggested letter:

Dear

Re: A young man was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Babai Biswas, alias Debashis Biswas, aged 22, was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured. The case is currently pending. The perpetrators of this act who tortured Babai Biswas to death, go on unpunished six years after his death, and in fact have been promoted. Moreover, the police officers attempted to fabricate the evidence on the case. Also, this case clearly illustrates that the Government of India has failed to establish the rule of law. Detailed information of this serious case is attached. Please take strong and immediate action to correct this matter.

The perpetrators are:

1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Inspector of Police, the then Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Thakurpukur Police Station
2) Avijit Sengupta, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police(D.S.P) (Town) Jadavpur, (now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police)
3) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of District Hospital
4) Dr. S.C. Tudu
5) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate
6) Benu Das, Sub-inspector of Police

I urge you to bring the above perpetrators to justice immediately and to provide compensation to the victim's family according to international law. I also urge the Government of India to take strong and speedy action to ratify the Convention Against Torture (CAT), implementing it in domestic law in order to eliminate torture and extra-judicial killings.

Sincerely yours


------------------------------

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-53-2003
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.