Poor account for 71% of custodial deaths in India

-The Hindu

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Data culled from the annual reports of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) from 1996-97 to 2017-18 have revealed that 71.58% of the custodial deaths in India were of people from poor or marginalised sections of society, said a statement by an anti-torture group issued on Thursday to mark the United Nations Human Rights Day.

According to the New Delhi-based National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT), the NHRC had cited 95 illustrative cases of custodial deaths during the 11 fiscals ending 2017-18. The victims in 68 cases comprising 71.58% were from poor families while three victims accounting for 3.19% of the cases were from middle-class families.

The economic background of 24 victims or 25.26% of the cases could not be ascertained.

The victims of custodial deaths have been people of certain communities in some States, the NCAT said.

For instance, the Chakma and Hajong groups “face serious discrimination as descendants of migrants from East Pakistan” in Arunachal Pradesh.

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