The Theatrics And Spectatorship Of Justice - Custodial Violence And The Rights Of Arrested Persons In India
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 23, 2025
- 1 min read
Shivatmika Prasad, BITS Law School
I. ABSTRACT
Beyond the reports of torture, mistreatment and disappearances within custody, a staggering number of 4,448 cases of custodial deaths were reported in India between 2020-20221. This is exactly what constitutes the paradox of Indian justice systems. While the constitution guarantees implementation of limited rights to arrested persons, the reality of custodial violence reveals otherwise. Within this context thus, justice becomes theatric. It becomes a spectacle for viewership and a means by which the state asserts moral superiority and exercises power, at the cost of violation of fundamental rights of its citizens. The backstage story of these custodial institutions reveal systematic normalization of violence at the hands of the state where theatrics and spectatorship of justice manifest its ways into courtrooms, media trials and surveillance by the state, turning punishment into a performance and violence into a spectacle.
This essay argues that custodial violence is the foundational basis of the performative form of justice that exists in India.
