Compensation for torture victim's kin

MUMBAI: The state human rights commission has ordered the state government to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation to Dalpatrao Ingle, a Buldhana schoolteacher whose son committed suicide after being tortured by the local police.
This is the first instance where the commission has directed the state to pay compensation in a human rights case.
Mr Ingle in his complaint to the commission said that his son Prakash (22) committed suicide on July 14, 2001, a day after police beat him during an inquiry into a theft case.The police suspected Prakash of stealing bullocks because of his earlier arrest in a theft case in 1995. He had been acquitted then.
The complainant said head constable Bharatsingh Thakur and constables Rajesh Wankhede and Madhav Narkhedkar came to his home in Rahood village at 2 a.m. and dragged his son out. Prakash was manhandled, beaten with sticks and forced to sit in the police jeep even as he claimed his innocence. He was arrested but fled before he could be taken to the police station.
The next day he committed suicide by hanging himself from a neem tree. Although Mr Ingle complained to the police that this was a case of abetting suicide, police registered a case of accidental death.
The commission served notices to police superintendent of Buldhana and the three constables. In their responses, the constables denied assaulting Prakash. The superintendent replied that he had ordered a departmental inquiry against the three policemen for allowing Prakash to run away.
The complainant filed his rejoinder along with affidavits of Punjabrao Deshmukh, a witness and Sridharao Ingle, who had lodged the theft complaint.
While Mr Deshmukh corroborated the torture charges,Mr Sridharao said he did not suspect Prakash of stealing.
The commission noted that the complainant’s son was tortured by three constables. It further noted that his arrest was illegal and was not based on any credible evidence.
Also, the head constable did not properly explain the grounds of arrest to Mr Ingle. In his order, Justice Anant Mane observed that Prevention of Human Rights Act, 1993, emphasises that "one person’s freedom is another person’s responsibility".
He said the National Human Rights Commission’s guidelines regarding arrest of an individual should be followed, noting that many suspects who suffered police torture had ended their life.
Acknowledging that there was a violation of human rights, Justice Mane directed the state to compensate Mr Ingle. The state has been asked to recover Rs 50,000 from the three policemen and pay the sum to the complainant within a month.