Commission recommends Rs. 3 lakhs compensation in a caseof custodial death
The Commission has directed the Government of Karnataka to pay interim compensation of Rs.3 lakhs to the dependants of a young man who had died due to injuries sustained in a police station.
The Commission was seized of the tragedy by a letter from a student of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, who had sent a news- clipping from a major Indian daily. The news clipping revealed that an young man, Ravi, aged about 28 years and a resident of Yadoor village of Karnataka had been arrested on the charge of theft of a bicycle and put in police lock-up. He had reportedly died due to serious injuries, sustained from a severe beating by a police constable.
In response to a notice issued by the Commission to the Government of Karnataka, the Karnataka police submitted a report. The report admitted that the deceased was assaulted and tortured and that this had resulted in bleeding and other injuries. The report also stated that an SHO had also been found to be involved with the police constable. The guilty officials had tried to give the impression that the deceased had died while seeking to escape by scaling a wall and that he had fallen down in the process, injuring himself. Medical opinion, however, contradicted this version because as many as 24 injuries were found on the deceased which could not have occurred as the result of a fall. The concerned police officers have since been charge-sheeted.
The Commission took the view that the police investigation had established gross abuse of power and criminal acts by the policemen. Torture in the police station had caused the death of an innocent young man. Further, records had been manipulated to justify the unlawful actions. The Commission accordingly directed the Government of Karnataka to pay immediate interim compensation, in the amount of Rs. 3 lakhs to the dependants of the deceased.
The Commission was seized of the tragedy by a letter from a student of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, who had sent a news- clipping from a major Indian daily. The news clipping revealed that an young man, Ravi, aged about 28 years and a resident of Yadoor village of Karnataka had been arrested on the charge of theft of a bicycle and put in police lock-up. He had reportedly died due to serious injuries, sustained from a severe beating by a police constable.
In response to a notice issued by the Commission to the Government of Karnataka, the Karnataka police submitted a report. The report admitted that the deceased was assaulted and tortured and that this had resulted in bleeding and other injuries. The report also stated that an SHO had also been found to be involved with the police constable. The guilty officials had tried to give the impression that the deceased had died while seeking to escape by scaling a wall and that he had fallen down in the process, injuring himself. Medical opinion, however, contradicted this version because as many as 24 injuries were found on the deceased which could not have occurred as the result of a fall. The concerned police officers have since been charge-sheeted.
The Commission took the view that the police investigation had established gross abuse of power and criminal acts by the policemen. Torture in the police station had caused the death of an innocent young man. Further, records had been manipulated to justify the unlawful actions. The Commission accordingly directed the Government of Karnataka to pay immediate interim compensation, in the amount of Rs. 3 lakhs to the dependants of the deceased.