Mumbai: Observing that custodial deaths have increased in India, the Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered a sessions court to frame murder charges against eight officers attached to the Wadala railway police who were booked in a custodial death case in 2014.
The HC has also ordered the trial court to frame charges against the officers for insulting the religious beliefs of the victim.
The case pertains to the custodial death of Agnelo Valdaris, who was found dead on the railway tracks. Wadala Railway Police, who had Agnelo's custody at that time, alleged he had jumped before a running train to escape from custody and had been crushed to death.
However, the presence of over 40 injuries on his body indicated the immense torture he had been subjected to, during interrogation, which was noted by the HC.
Apart from the injuries, the statements of other teenagers who were picked up by police along with Agnelo, in a theft case, revealed that police had sexually assaulted them (unnatural sex).
Considering the material on record, the bench of Justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Sadhana Jadhav ordered the sessions court to frame charges under murder and insult to religious belief, along with the provisions of law invoked against the eight cops by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its three chargesheets.
“As per the chargesheets, the eight cops have been booked for unnatural sex, causing grievous hurt and other provisions such as destruction of evidence, public servants defying laws and so on,” said special counsel Hiten Venegaonkar.
The bench was dealing with the petition filed by Agnelo's father Leonard, seeking action against the eight officers, whom Maharashtra Police had punished by withholding their increments and transferring them out of Mumbai.
Allowing Leonard's plea, Justice Jadhav, who penned the judgment, noted that custodial deaths had increased in the country.
“The other teenagers, who were co-accused in the theft case along with Agnelo, were witnesses to the torture meted out to him. They have narrated in their statements that they were sexually abused by the police,” noted Justice Jadhav.
“Custodial violence may be either physical, emotional or mental. It leaves a permanent impact on the victim. The present case shows how the victims were tortured by none other than protectors of law. Custodial deaths have been on the rise in the country,” the bench said.
The bench further said that the action of the eight cops was riddled with mystery in the present case as there were no reasons assigned for the inconsistencies in the statements of witnesses, the panchnamas, the diary entries and the official records of the hospitals.
“All this would prima facie indicate that the police have deliberately suppressed the sequence of events since they are guilty of their own deeds,” the bench has said in its judgment. The court further said that torture, when committed by the law-enforcers, makes the victims helpless.
“Whenever torture is committed under the shield of uniform in the four walls of the prison, it not only makes the victim helpless but also casts a slur on the concerned. This is precisely why judiciary has to take note of all these aspects,” the bench said.
