NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA 11. Death of a person due to torture while in the custody of Mizoram Police and Indian Reserve Police at Kanhmun Police Station of Mamit Distt, Mizoram (Case No. 10/16/7/2013-AD) i. The Commission received a complaint dated 22.04.2013 from Shri Tejang Chakma, Complaints Coordinator, Asian Centre for Human Rights, Delhi alleging death of one Sehbaram Reang, aged 23 years, S/o Sofrongon Reang on 20.4.2013 due to torture while in the custody of Mizoram Police and Indian Reserve Police at Kanhmun Police Station of Mamit Distt, Mizoram. ii. The Commission on 01.05.2013 took cognizance of the Complaint and obtained various reports including the inquest report, post-mortem report and magisterial inquiry report from the concerned authorities and got the reports analyzed by the Investigation Division. iii. The Enquiry Magistrate raised the following lapses/points in his report : a. There were procedural irregularities in the way in which the deceased was arrested by the police; b. There was negligence on the part of Mizoram and Tripura police team which took the deceased for search operation; c. Very little effort was made by the police to nab or search for the deceased after he is said to have escaped from the police custody; d. It is not clear whether the death of the deceased is suicidal or homicidal; e. As the circumstances under which the deceased disappeared and the dead body was found are suspicious, he recommended through police investigation. iv. The Post Mortem Report indicated presence of maggots present all over the body of the deceased. No bruises could be detected due to the decomposition of the body, ligature mark was found present around the neck. Three teeth were found broken and also there was fracture and dislocation of Atlanto occipital joint. Hand cuffs with broken chain were present over both hands. As per PMR the deceased died of Asphyxia due to hanging but it could not be proven whether it was suicidal or homicidal. v. Upon consideration of material on record, the Commission observed the following points indicated towards gross negligence on the part of the Police authorities of Mizoram:a. As per the reports, the deceased managed to run away from the custody of police in handcuffs. It shows that the Police authorities were not vigilant in their supervision of the security of the arrested person. Moreover, it is very strange that a person in hand cuffs can run so fast that he cannot be apprehended by the police which was accompanying him all the time; b. The dead body of the deceased was found hanging from a tree with broken handcuffs. It seems unrealistic that the deceased committed suicide after he managed to escape from the police custody; ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 45