annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights

INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Karnataka
slained Naxals, release of some Naxals
being lodged in Gulbarga jail and
Chikmagalur jail, and an end to the
evictions of the people from Someshwar,
Mookambika and nearby forest areas for
holding talks. 3 No dialogue took place in
2004.
The security forces were responsible
for human rights violations particularly
torture, rape and custodial killings. On the
night of 16 March 2004, Mehboob Pasha
died in police custody after he, along with
five others, was arrested by a police team
led by Sub-Inspector Balakrishna from the
outskirts of Pavagada town in Tumkur
District. 4
The Naxalites have been responsible
for human rights violations, including
violation of the right to life. On 22
November 2004, one Hemmige
Chandrakanth, a farmer, was brutally
beaten up at his house in Talagaru near
Bukkadibail in Chikmagalur District by a
group of Naxal cadres. The wooden piece
used to torture him had pierced through his
legs, fracturing them. Chandrakanth
suffered multiple injuries. He had to be
admitted in the Manipal hospital. 5
Atrocities on Dalits, threats of forced
relocation and eviction of the indigenous
and tribal peoples were reported.
Prison conditions remained
deplorable. Ill-treatment of prisoners,
unhygienic cells, sub-standard food and
lack of medical attention were widely
reported. Hundreds of undertrials have
suffered from judicial delay.
While official figure of child labourers
118
in the state is put over 39,000, nongovernmental
organizations put the figure
much higher. Many of the child labourers
are forced to work in hazardous
conditions, and subjected to sexual and
physical exploitation.
There are about 2.5 lakh sex workers
in the state. Majority of them are under 18
years of age and hail from socioeconomically
marginalized families in
tribal and rural areas. Although the
Karnataka government has taken some
measures to combat trafficking of women
and children, the problem has been
growing alarmingly.
II. Atrocities by security forces
i. Arbitrary deprivation of the right to
life
The National Human Rights
Commission registered 41 custodial deaths
in 1999-2000, 46 in 2000-2001, 50 in
2001-2002 and 65 in 2002-2003. 6
On the night of 16 March 2004,
Mehboob Pasha died in police custody
after he, along with five others, was
arrested by a police team led by Sub-
Inspector Balakrishna from the outskirts of
Pavagada town in Tumkur District. They
were allegedly caught while gambling. He
was brutally beaten up in the police station
and died while being taken to hospital for
treatment. According to the police, the
victim died following a heart attack en
route to Bangalore. However, the
deceased’s friends, Markandeya, Krishna,
Ramu, Eshwar, Nagappa and Ramanji,