So many deaths in police custody in Uttar Pradesh are the ill-effects of police autocracy – Darapuri

Lucknow, (Samajweekly)  So many deaths in police custody in Uttar Pradesh are the ill-effects of police autocracy in Yogi Raj. This was said today by SR Darapuri, National President, All India People’s Front, in a statement issued to the press. He further said that Yogi Adityanath, who became the Chief Minister by taking oath on the Constitution, has made a mockery of constitutional principles. In the political culture of ‘thok do-kuchal do’, the morale of the police is high in doing unconstitutional work. The democracy of stick and bullet is going on in the state. The state has been at the first place in the country for many years in terms of deaths in police custody. According to the available data, in the year 2021-21, while there were 1940 deaths in police custody across the country, 451 i.e. 23 percent deaths occurred in Uttar Pradesh alone and in this year, Uttar Pradesh was at the first place in the whole country. Similarly, in the year 2021-22, out of 2544 deaths in police custody in the entire country, 501 i.e. about 20 percent deaths occurred in Uttar Pradesh alone and it was ranked first in the entire country. Recently, in the current month of October, two deaths have occurred in police custody in the state capital Lucknow itself. This conduct of the police is a threat to the rule of law.

One thing is also worth noting about the deaths in police custody, in almost all these cases, the post-mortem report mentions that the cause of death is not known and the viscera is preserved, whereas in the First Information Report filed by the family of the deceased, a clear allegation is made of the police assaulting the deceased and it is said that the death occurred as a result of that, due to which the cause of death should be clearly known. In this way, a confusing situation is created by the post-mortem report, the benefit of which is availed by the accused police personnel. Therefore, it would be better that if in the case of death in police custody, the cause of death is mentioned as not known in the post-mortem, then a demand should be made for its re-post-mortem by a board so that the cause of death can be clear. This will also stop the police from taking advantage of not knowing the cause of death and the culprits will also be punished which will help in preventing deaths in police custody.

In case of death in police custody, not only the employees of the concerned police station but also the higher officials who supervise should be punished because checking the people brought/kept illegally at the police station and preventing them from being beaten up is also their primary duty. Unless this is done, it will not be possible to prevent deaths in custody.

All India People’s Front has demanded from the government that in case of deaths in police custody, strict action should be taken not only against the guilty employees of the police station but also against the higher officials who supervise them, the family members of the deceased in custody should be given proper compensation and in case the cause of death is not known in the postmortem, a second postmortem by a board should be arranged because it is the constitutional duty of the government to protect innocent citizens from state violence.