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

INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Uttar Pradesh
policemen were trying to immerse some
idols of goddess Durga in the morning of
24 October 2004, as those had not been
immersed on the previous night. 13
In April 2004, the NHRC also ordered
the state government to pay an interim
compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of
Harjinder alias Jinda, an undertrial who
died in police custody on 19 August 1999.
Earlier in May 2001, NHRC issued the
direction for giving compensation but the
State Government urged that there was no
justification for grant of compensation as a
CID inquiry had found that the undertrial
died by jumping into a nallah, canal, while
being taken to the court and allegation of
torture by the police was not established.
Stating that the police officials escorting
the undertrial did not take care to prevent
the risk of “avoidable harm” to him, the
NHRC ruled that the Government was
“vicariously liable” in the matter. 14
In April 2004, the NHRC directed the
Uttar Pradesh Government to pay Rs 1 lakh
as interim relief to the next of kin of an
undertrial prisoner Sher Mohammad, who
died in police custody on 23 February 1996,
a day after his arrest. The magisterial inquiry
report stated that Sher Mohammad was
beaten up by the Station House Officer and
had died as a result of police torture. The
post mortem report found out that his death
was caused by shock and haemorrhage due
to injuries in police custody. 15
ii. Torture
Police torture is rampant in Uttar
Pradesh.
246
On 25 January 2004, one Pankaj Giri,
a tea vendor, was allegedly thrown off the
speeding Chhattisgarh Express by three
Government Railway Police (GRP)
constables near Kosi Kalan in Mathura
district. However, Pankaj survived having
lost his both legs in the incident. The
victim alleged that the GRP constables
tried to kill him when he refused to accede
to their demands for money. 16
On 7 June 2004, one Brahma Dutt
Tyagi alias Titu was picked up by Sub-
Inspector Amir Kumar, in-charge of the
Rajinder Nagar police station in
Ghaziabad district and was illegally
detained in the police station for three
days. He was allegedly tortured brutally.
The Sub-Inspector allegedly demanded Rs
30,000 from the victim for his release.
Soon after he had been released from the
police lock-up, he was arrested again for
allegedly possessing drugs and sent to jail.
The victim was allegedly picked up after
his car broke down near Sahibabad
Railway Road on the way to Delhi. 17
On 11 October 2004, eight persons
were reportedly injured, one of them
critically, when an army jawan fired from
his gun following an altercation between
him and some persons including a tempo
driver over hire charges at the Belthra
Colony in Balia district. The accused
jawan was later arrested by the police. 18
III. Violence against women
The National Commission for Women
(NCW) reportedly received as many as
2,580 complaints from Uttar Pradesh out