THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In view of the death of a person in Kottayam allegedly following custodial torture, state police chief Mr. T P Senkumar has directed that anyone taken into custody, especially during night for drunken ruckus or found ill on roads, should be subjected to medical check-ups compulsorily and ensure that there is no medical risks.
According to a fresh circular, the police special branch officials are directed to ensure that no such persons are kept in custody without medical check up at nearby hospital.
If the person have any medical risks, he should be even kept at the hospital itself. In case of any obstacles in following these, the police official concernedshould inform the matter to district police chief concerned immediately.
Over these years there were many instances of persons taking into custody in night with injuries caused in clashes or other prior medical reasons dying while in custody.
To avoid such situations, the Kerala Police Act had also prescribed in detail steps to be taken while taking a person into custody in night.
Meanwhile, a slew of measures initiated by the police earlier to avoid custodial tortures still remains on papers.
In 2005, the present state police chief had even suggested a set of measures to avoid third degree measures. Imparting training to cops on scientific investigation techniques and knowledge about human bodies were among the recommendations.
Setting up of central custodial facility in all districts to keep in one place those in custody at all police stations in the district also remain as a non-starter due to reasons like lack of infrastructure The project aimed at averting custodial tortures was piloted in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode cities in December 2010. "In order to implement such schemes we require sufficient infrastructure and manpower," said Mr. Senkumar.
