Custodial Torture: A Two Years Prospective Study Vohra Vijay Kumar1,*, Mittal Deep Rattan2, Agarwal Harish Kumar S3, Singh Dildar4, Malik Shamsher2 1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar 2Demonstrator, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar 3Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar 4Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar *Corresponding author: Dr Vijay Kumar Vohra, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar, E-mail: drvohraasr@rediffmail.com
Online published on 8 August, 2019. Abstract Torture and violence are known since ancient times. The torture essentially is the cruelty committed by the persons in power over the helpless and the weak. Custodial torture means torture in police custody, jails or in custody of other governmental authorities. It is gross negation of the human rights and is violative of the article 21 of the constitution of India. To find out the various methods of torture employed in custody, present prospective study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Govt. Medical College, Amritsar. Over a study period of two years, a total of 21 (16 male and 5 female) patients of alleged custodial torture, who were admitted in the emergency of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Hospital associated with Govt. Medical College, Amritsar were studied in detail. The maximum no of cases, 15 (71.4%) were from jail custody, 5 (23.8%) were in police custody and 1 (4.8%) patient was a victim of domestic violence who was detained in her own house. The maximum no of patients of custodial torture (33.3%) were in the age group of 21–30 years. 9.5% of the custodial patients suffered physical torture, 57.1% of the patients suffered mental torture and 33.3% of the patients were victims of both physical and mental torture. This study outlines the various methods of torture employed in custody with the aim of creating awareness in the society about the menace of torture and to help in the prevention of torture by the authorities. Top Keywords Custodial torture, methods of torture, prevention of torture. Top |