Abstract

Custodial death is the one of the worst long standing human rights violation in the world and India is one among them. These violations are extremely brutal, barbarous, inhumane and the gross violations of both fundamental rights and human rights. It is a serious threat to an orderly civilized society. Eventhough the United Nations, various international treatises and agreements, The Constitution of India, the Indian Judiciary and the National Human Rights Commission has made its efforts to prevent it to all its extent but is not achieved yet in India. There is a stringent need to protect the human rights of individuals, especially the right to life and the state is duty bound to curb the menace of these violations. These repeated incidents of torture highlighted the lack of anti-torture laws in India and called for action to prevent them. The custodial death arose during the British colonial period in India and is not new concept. The state’s responsibility is to protect and safeguard the members of the society and to prevent the criminals from committing the crimes. This responsibility of protecting the life of an accused and the convicts lies with the respective state governments. It is very difficult to determine the responsibility of the police and prove their guilt because all the evidences are in the hands of the police. Custodial death can be called as social threat which increased alarmingly in the recent past years in India which violates the inalienable and universal basic human rights guaranteed to all the persons by being born as a human. The credibility of the law enforcement systems is doubtful. This paper focuses on custodial death and violence, its reasons, how the Indian legal framework, international treatises and conventions and on the human rights perspective.

Keywords