Encounters with crime

The 1998-99 report is revealing, for it reveals why there has been no feedback on many of the cases.

The list of cases is long and deals with reluctance to rescue a harassed woman from clutches of acirc;euro;tilde;respectableacirc;euro;trade; people, to the acirc;euro;tilde;bad timeacirc;euro;trade; that prisoners are threatened with should they refuse to pay bribes to jail officials.

An incident in Uttar Pradesh stands out as an example of police insensitivity to loss of civilian life, in this case, of a six-year-old boy, Gaurav. Jitender Singh, a resident of Shalimar Garden in UP complained about how his son was killed in an acirc;euro;tilde;encounteracirc;euro;trade; with the police. Gaurav was kidnapped in March 1998 for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh. The police launched a search in neighboring states.

acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;Subsequently, due to negligence of the police, Singhacirc;euro;trade;s son got injured during an exchange of fire between the police and the culprits and later Gaurav succumbed to the bullet injury,acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; the NHRC report states.

While the Rajasthan police described the incident as a acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;spontaneous encounter,acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; the Commission concluded that acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;inadequate efforts were made by the police to deal with the kidnappers by means other than a recourse to indiscriminate firing.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; The Commission recommended that an immediate interim relief of Rs 2.5 lakh be paid to the father.

A case in Jaipur points out how the social standing of the offender take precedence over a womanacirc;euro;trade;s rights. A 24-year-old woman had been forcibly detained and sexually abused in Jaipur for over two years. The NHRCacirc;euro;trade;s report points out that while a senior police officer in Jaipur had inquired into the matter and ruled out the involvement of the suspects, they had decided to press on with the investigation.

On April 13, 1998 the woman was recovered from the house of one Manoharlal Sharma. The report describes her condition, acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;She was found to be undernourished, in ill health and in traumatised condition.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; She was also found to be pregnant.

A case was then registered under IPC and six persons, including a police constable, were identified as being responsible for her plight.

In a similar case of April 1997 from Andhra Pradesh, the Commission took suo-motu conisance of a case in which a security guard posted at the residence of the Inspector General of Police Co-ordination attempted to rape a woman labourer. When her husband tried to rescue her, severe injuries were inflicted on him by the policeman and two of his colleagues.

The Commission asked the Director General of Police to submit a report on the incident which it found unsatisfactory. Later the woman lodged an FIR, and all the three policemen were arrested.

A case of harassment of prisoners by jail officials was discovered when Harbhajan Singh, a convict at Central Jail in Bikaner, levelled corruption charges against the superintendent of the jail. When Singh had requested for parole for medical treatment of his wife, it was alleged that acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;a false and intentionally wrong reportacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; was made saying that Singh had planned to leave the country.

According to Singhacirc;euro;trade;s complaint to NHRC, acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;the jail superintendent had misused a letter which related to another prisoner with an identical name and who had already been released from the jail on completion of his sentenceacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade;, the report says.

acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;In a report to the Commission, Deputy Secretary Home, Rajasthan, admitted that there had been a mix-up of the papers of the two prisoners. The superintendent, while admitting the mistake, called it a clerical error and informed that, after the mistake was noticed he reported further to District Magistrate, recommending the granting of parole.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; However, according to Singhacirc;euro;trade;s son, the mixing up of the papers was deliberate with a view to harass Singh.

The Commission later conducted an investigation of its own into the matter. The report says, acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;The findings of the investigations team corroborated the complainantacirc;euro;trade;s Singh version. The mixing-up of the papers of the two prisoners seemed more than a mistake.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade;

The Commission discovered that the day when Singh was lodged in the acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;jail the Superintendent had told Singhacirc;euro;trade;s son to arrange for Rs 20,000 or else his father would have a bad time inside the jail.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; A deal was struck for Rs 14,000 out of which Rs 10,000 was paid by the son through a warden.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; But the rest of the amount could not be paid.

The Commission recommended an inquiry into the matter and interim relief of Rs 20,000 for the acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;suffering, deprivation, humiliation and harassment suffered by the complainant Singh.acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade;

In a typical case of police brutality on detenus in Gujarat, Punjabhai Thakor, 55, a suspect in a theft case, complained of giddiness during investigation and died in a hospital later.

acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;In the meantime rodents had bitten the body,acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; the report says.

Later, the Home Department of the state accepted a post-mortem report which said that Thakor had died of cardio-respiratory failure. acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;The Commission refused to a accept the Home Departmentacirc;euro;trade;s observations8230;acirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; and recommended that Rs 2 lakh be paid as compensation to the dependents of Thakor.