Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The percentage of members of schedule caste in prison is higher than their percentage in the population, said Chandni Jagat, an advocate from the Gond community. She said SCs constitute 21% of the Indian population but form 24% of prison population. About the Vadar community and Tulsidas Kanjar’s custodial death, Chandni discussed the devastating impact that custodial violence had on the lives of people, and urged that they shouldn’t be treated as mere statistics. She discussed how police use violence as a way to get confession.
Jagat was speaking on police violence and false cases with statistics of Madhya Pradesh at Gandhi Bhawan in the city. It was part of a seminar, Equality, Justice and Liberty: Human rights in the context of denotified tribes, organised by Muskaan in association with Parimal Lab. Devika Prasad, a researcher specialising in police reforms, who spoke about UN Convention Against Torture explained the illegality of torture by law enforcement agencies, emphasising how any form of torture was prohibited in custody. The UN Convention was signed and ratified by most countries of the world, except for India, where torture by police continues to happen, she said. Former director of CBI and former DGP, Madhya Pradesh, Rishi Shukla said such a seminar would sensitise police.
