Instances of attacks by the police in India on innocent citizens and misuse of power by them are reported in the media almost every day. In North India, it is still worse. Policemen drag suspects on the road with a rope and beat them up in full public view. On August 28, 2015, the traffic police constable outside Lokmanya Tilak railway station confiscated the autorickshaw’s driving license in which I, my wife and daughter were travelling and later fined him of Rs 500 just because we were carrying extra baggage in it.
On Friday, May 22, 2015, at around 6.45 p.m., a young boy of around 20-21 years of age was severely beaten and his clothes were torn in full public view by the traffic police constables of the Sion-Dharavi police chowki near Sion railway station just because he asked the police constables the reason for the nakabandi that was taking place that very moment. In another incident, the Mumbai police mercilessly beat up a young girl on September 27, 2015 at the pandal of Lalbaugcha Raja for no fault of hers just because she was trying to make her way through the huge crowd of people. Two women police constables were suspended. The decision was taken after watching the video footage that went viral after the incident.
Everyday we hear about custodial deaths in police stations and there is no inquiry against them, nor are the police arrested for causing these deaths. On April 17, 2015, two men on motorcycle robbed a woman of her gold necklace at Dombivli while she was walking on the road. When she went to the police station to lodge a complaint, the cops, instead of registering her complaint, gave her a huge lecture.
In another instance, a boy and his elder sister who were standing and chatting outside their own building compound were asked to go in by the police. Since the policemen were not wearing uniform, the girl asked them to produce their identity cards. This angered the police and the two of them were forcibly dragged to the police station and beaten up badly. They were also stripped naked and the girl was gangraped repeatedly in front of her brother by several policemen who were on duty. When the police produced them in court, the sister showed marks of injuries on her body and the court sent her to judicial custody instead of police custody.
Jubel D’Cruz
