R.S. Roshini, The Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, School of Excellence in Law, Perungudi, Chennai
ABSTRACT
India is a federal, liberal, secular, socialist country. Custodial violence in a third world country like India is still a disturbing one. Violence and torture in the custody of police have been a long-standing issue in the society. Police are assigned with the task to maintains law and order and to control the crime. If police start using violence in custody, then which machinery the people will lean on to protect their life. This is the question which has been asked by ourself from the past many years. The atrocities of the police officers on the detained persons is on the rise. Recent data shows that the number of deaths in custody has been average to over five people per day. Thus, there is a need for an anti-torture law in India. This paper made an attempt to deal with the various laws which are enacted to curb the violence in custody and the Supreme Court judgements and directions issued on custodial violence. It also gives some statistical data on custodial deaths took at the custody of police officers. The paper also tries to examine the legislative role in implementation of law commission report and torture bill. This paper also suggested various recommendations for the prevention of violence or torture in the custody.
