Calcutta HC orders second postmortem of youth allegedly tortured in police custody
The father of the deceased had approached the court alleging that his son, Abu Siddique Halder, was tortured in police custody. The youth was arrested on June 30 for allegedly stealing jewellery
The Calcutta High Court on July 12 directed the West Bengal government to exhume the body of a youth, whose family has alleged torture of the deceased in police custody, for a second postmortem on Saturday.
“The postmortem shall be conducted in the presence of the petitioner. A Judicial Magistrate shall be present at the time of conducting the postmortem. The second postmortem should also be video-graphed and the video footage shall be preserved following the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission,” an order by Justice Amrita Sinha read.
The court directed the government to send the viscera of the deceased to Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad.
The father of the deceased had approached the court alleging that his son was tortured in police custody. According to reports, Abu Siddique Halder was arrested on June 30 by the police in the Dholahat area of South 24 Parganas in the Sunderban Police district for allegedly stealing jewellery. The youth was granted bail on July 4 and was admitted to a local hospital. Siddique’s condition deteriorated and he was later shifted to a hospital in Kolkata. He died on July 8.
In the petition, Siddique’s family members sought protection from the court. “The Superintendent of Police, Sunderban Police District, is directed to ensure protection of the petitioner, his family members and the witnesses of the instant case,” the court said.
Justice Sinha said that the Deputy Superintendent of Police, who is currently investigating the case, “is directed to ensure that the Inspector-in-Charge of the police station Manas Chatterjee is kept out of the process of investigation of the instant case except for recording his statement”.
Civil rights activists have raised questions on custodial deaths in West Bengal. The Ministry of Home Affairs, in response to a question in Lok Sabha in August 2023, pointed out that between 2018 to 2023, 40 persons had died in police custody in the State.
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