Custodial Torture in India | 04 Jul 2025

Source: TH  

Why in News? 

The custodial death in Tamil Nadu has once again brought the issue of custodial torture into the spotlight. 

What is Custodial Torture? 

• About: Custodial torture refers to the infliction of physical or mental suffering on individuals held in police or other authorities.  
  • It represents a serious violation of human rights and dignity and frequently results in custodial deaths—fatalities that occur while a person is under custody. 
• Types of Custodial Torture:  
  • Physical Torture: Beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, sexual violence, forced stress positions, and denial of medical care. 
  • Psychological Torture: Threats, humiliation, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, and mock executions. 
  • Coercing detainees into admitting crimes through extreme duress. 
• Custodial Torture in India:  
  • Custodial Deaths: Between 2016 and 2022, Tamil Nadu (highest among southern states) reported 490 custodial deaths, while the national total stood at 11,656. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number with 2,630 deaths. 
  • Abuse of Preventive Detention Law: In 2022, Tamil Nadu detained 2,129 people under preventive laws, accounting for half of India’s total. 
    • Scheduled Castes (SCs) faced disproportionate custodial violence, making up 38.5% of detainees despite being only 20% of the population in Tamil Nadu. 

What are the Constitutional and Legal Safeguards in Place Against Custodial Torture? 

Constitutional Provisions 

• Article 14: Article 14 ensures equality before the law, affirming that no one, including law enforcement agencies or officials, is above the law. 
• Article 21: Article 21 guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, which includes the freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. 
• Article 20(1): Article 20(1) states that no person can be convicted for an act that was not an offence under the law at the time it was committed, thereby prohibiting excessive or retrospective punishment. 
• Article 20(3): Article 20(3) protects an individual from being compelled to self-incriminate, safeguarding the accused from coerced or forced confessions through torture or pressure. 

Legal Provisions 

• Section 120 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023): It penalizes those who intentionally cause hurt or grievous hurt to extract confessions, information, through violence or coercion. 
• Section 35 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS, 2023): It mandates that arrests and detentions follow valid reasons, documented procedures. 
• Section 22 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (2023): It invalidates confessions made under inducement, threat, coercion, or promise. 

International Provisions 

• United Nation Charter, 1945: It mandates that prisoners be treated with dignity, affirming that their fundamental rights and freedoms remain protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR-India is a signatory). 
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): It protects individuals from torture, cruel treatment, and enforced disappearances, ensuring the right to dignity and security. 

What are the Challenges in Curbing Custodial Torture? 

• Lack of Specific Anti-Torture Legislation: India signed the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) in 1997 but has not yet ratified it.  
  • While torture is indirectly addressed in laws like the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, there is no standalone law criminalizing it, making existing provisions vague, inadequate, and lacking stringent penalties. 
• Weak Enforcement & Impunity: Between 2017 and 2022, out of 345 judicial inquiries into custodial deaths, there were 123 arrests and 79 chargesheets, but zero convictions. 
  • In 74 human rights violation cases involving illegal detention, torture, or deaths, only 3 convictions were recorded against the police. 
• Overburdened Institutions: Human Rights Commissions (NHRC/SHRCs) lack binding powers and depend on government funding, limiting their effectiveness. 
  • Prison overcrowding (at 130% capacity) and lack of independent oversight—with no effective police complaints authority in many states—create conditions that facilitate abuse and inhuman treatment. 
• Fear of Reprisal Among Victims: Victims often refrain from reporting torture due to fear of retaliation, lack of legal aid, and threats when filing complaints.  
  • Marginalized groups (Dalits, minorities, tribals) are especially vulnerable due to  inadequate victim protection and compensation mechanisms. 
• Judicial and Systemic Failures: Lengthy judicial proceedings, compounded by overburdened courts, witness intimidation, and inadequate fast-track courts, delay justice in custodial death cases.  
  • Additionally, poor compliance with the D.K. Basu Guidelines (1996)—mandating arrest memos, medical exams, and legal access, along with ineffective magisterial inquiries, reflects a systemic failure and a lack of political will to enforce accountability or reform policing practices.

What Measures can be taken to Address Custodial Torture in India? 

• Strengthen Legal Framework: Enact a comprehensive Prevention of Torture law with clear punitive provisions and victim compensation, in alignment with UNCAT standards.  
  • India should also ratify UNCAT to reinforce its international commitment to ending torture. 
• Ensure Institutional Accountability: Take swift and transparent action against police personnel involved in custodial torture. Set up specialized district-level units to handle cases involving police custody and sensitive interrogations. 
• Reform Policing Structure: Separate the functions of law enforcement and investigation within the police to reduce conflicts of interest and minimize instances of custodial abuse. 
  • Introduce human rights training for police on lawful interrogation methods and the consequences of torture. Equip judicial magistrates with training on fair remand practices and natural justice principles. 
• Independent Oversight: Mandate judicial magistrates to supervise custodial procedures and investigations. Establish independent investigative bodies to handle complaints of custodial torture and deaths, ensuring unbiased accountability. 

Conclusion 

Custodial torture remains a grave human rights violation in India, exacerbated by legal gaps, institutional impunity, and systemic failures. Strengthening laws (BNS/BNSS reforms, UNCAT ratification), ensuring independent oversight, and police accountability are critical to ending this menace. Without urgent action, custodial deaths and torture will persist unchecked.