Complaints before the Commission
IPG without any basis. He was produced before the Magistrate, who had made a remand
order, and the deceased had been remanded to judicial custody. He had, however, been
brutally roughed up while in police custody, and the Jail authorities failed to provide
prompt medical treatment, wth the result that the young man had died.
The Commission noted that Shri Ram Bhajan Gupta had been accused under Section
294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPG), which deals with obscehe acts and songs. He had
also been charged with preventing a public servant from discharging his duty, criminal
assault and criminal intimidation of a public servant. The Commission was distressed to
know that a barrage of penal sections were presented before the Magistrate, while the
public servants, i.e. the police, were in fact not discharging any duty or public service,
but only resisting a legitimate claim of a citizen for the payment of eatables that they
had consumed. The conduct of the jail doctor was also callous and roused strong doubts
of collusion. The Commission was convinced that the false arrest and prosecution of the
deceased by the police had prevented him from exercising his human and Fundamental
Rights to have access to proper medical treatment, which had resulted in his death. The
Commission was thus of the view that the brutal treatment and harassment by the police,
and the negligence of the prison authorities and the doctor, had been the causes for the
death, which could otherwise have been prevented.
The Commission thus directed the Government of Madhya Pradesh to pay an
immediate interim relief of Rs. 2 lakhs to the next of kin of the deceased, and to
initiate appropriate criminal and departmental action against all the delinquent
police officials, jail staff and medical staff responsible for the untimely death of a man
in the prime of his youth.
Custodial torture of Rakesh I^mar Vij: Uttar Pradesh
{Case No. 12982/96-97)
The Commission had received a complaint from one Raj Kumar Vij of Varanasi alleging
that his son, Rakesh Kumar Vij, had been subjected to severe physical torture by the Uttar
Pradesh (UP) Police. This had necessitated the hospitalisation of Rakesh in order to save
his life. The complainant alleged that the police had illegally detained his son in
connection with a murder investigation. It was mentioned in the petition that the victim
was ill-treated and tortured, and that electric shocks had been administered to him by
making him urinate on a live electric coil in order to elicit information about the murder.
He was also not allowed to meet any family member. The torture had totally incapacitated
the victim.
Tlie Commission subsequently received a number of petitions from various NGOs and
social activists regarding this case. Taking cognizance of the matter, the Commission
issued notice to the DGP (UP). The report received finm the Senior Superintendent of
Police, Varanasi, stated that the victim had sustained injmies as a result of a fall while
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