Civil rights outfit People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jharkhand unit, has written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking an independent probe and suitable compensation for an alleged custodial death of a Dalit in Giridih.

“We will soon send our fact-finding team to the spot but before that, we decided to approach the NHRC on the alleged custodial death of Nago Pasi, a Dalit, on August 20, 2023, at Chattabad village in Bengabad of Giridih and wrote a letter on Wednesday evening,” said PUCL Jharkhand secretary Arvind Avinash.

The letter informs that 55-year-old Nago Pasi, arrested for the murder of his mother, died in police custody and the matter came into the limelight on August 21 morning.

“The deputy superintendent of police (headquarters), Giridih, Sanjay Rana stated the reason for the death was a stomach and heart disease that Nago Pasi was afflicted with. Further as per the DSP, on Sunday night (August 20) Nago’s health had deteriorated and he was rushed to Sadar Hospital, where he eventually died,” the PUCL letter stated.

“On the other hand, according to Nago Pasi’s relatives who were present at Sadar Hospital, the reason for the deceased’s death was the result of ruthless beating and torture meted out to him by the police. Against the claims of the police personnel, the relatives stated that Nago’s health was in good condition and that the policemen hastily disposed of his body to save themselves and did not even allow the relatives to meet him,” the letter alleged.

It claimed: “An image was also reported in the news clipping dated August 22, 2023, showing several injuries on deceased Nago’s hands. The aforementioned incident is a prima facie case of police brutality, custodial torture and consequential custodial death.”

“Custodial torture and death is an egregious violation of the accused’s fundamental right to life and liberty as well as his human rights. It warrants an independent and prompt probe and the deceased’s family is entitled to suitable compensation for their irreparable loss,” the letter said.

Giridih SP Deepak Sharma when contacted said that they were adhering to the laid out NHRC guidelines and the matter would be probed by a judicial magistrate soon. The autopsy was done under camera by a medical panel.

NHRC notice

In a related development, the NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a woman has been subjected to physical torture, harassment and social boycott in the name of witch hunting in Balugram, Latehar district in Jharkhand. When some villagers came forward to save her, the accused even started beating them with a stick.

The NHRC on Wednesday issued notices to Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh and DGP Ajay Kumar Singh and called for a detailed report on the matter within four weeks. It has also asked that the report should include the action taken against the perpetrators, the status of the FIR registered in the matter as well as the steps taken or to be taken to ensure that such inhuman incidents do not recur in the future by enactment of any prohibitory law or executive instructions to all district collectors.

According to the media report of August 22 cited by the NHRC, some residents of the victim’s village called the victim in the village panchayat on August 20, made her sit in the middle and declared her a witch after conducting a strange ritual.