Sexual assault during remand!

The allegations of a woman charged in a murder case being sexually assaulted and subject to other forms of physical torture while in remand are extremely serious and need thorough, independent investigation. But why did this happen in the first place? While there is no ambiguity about sexual assault being a punishable crime, there seems to be a general, tacit acceptance of the practice of torture during interrogation or remand despite court directives to the contrary.

Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) lets law enforcers torture individuals during remand period. The High Court had issued a 15-point directive on April 7, 2003 against this provision. The then government had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on August 2, 2003 against the high court verdict. Finally, after 13 long years, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court directive through issuing some guidelines regarding custodial torture on May 24, 2016. But, as the above-mentioned case shows, these guidelines are routinely ignored by the policemen of this country.

A Star Weekend report published on July 20, 2018 provides ample evidence of torture during remand period and terms it as a regular practice of the law enforcers. The report mentions Ain O Salish Kendra, according to which in 2017, a total of 53 people died in custody, 20 of whom were convicts and 33 were detainees. In the first half of 2018, 25 people had reportedly died in police custody, 14 of whom were detainees. The recent death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed in police custody proves that custodial torture continues with impunity. According to Barrister Sara Hossain (a Supreme Court Lawyer), rights of the arrested and detained individuals are guaranteed by Article 33 and 35 of our constitution—including being kept safe from torture. Whether proven guilty or not, any individual in custody has the right to be protected from torture. The police have to follow the laws of the land and directives provided by the courts.

Although the Superintendent (SP) of Barishal has said that necessary actions will be taken if the allegations are found to be true, he also added that he is yet to get any official order. Our hope will be that the police department will not sit on this issue but carry out a thorough and immediate investigation and if the allegations are proven true, the culprits must be given exemplary punishment. All law enforcement agencies must abide by the constitutional and court directives and completely shun the barbaric practice of torture of individuals in custody.