Memo submitted to Parliamentary Committee formed to investigate custodial deaths

Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance and Advocacy Forum jointly submitted a memorandum to a sub-committee formed by the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee under the House of Representatives to study and investigate the recent incidents of custodial deaths in the different parts of the country.

Both the organizations submitted the memorandum to Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, chairperson of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee.

Of late, death in police custody is on rise, THRDA and AF monitored and documented five different cases of torture related deaths and deaths in custody (Raj Kumar Chepang in Chitwan, Roshan BK in Kailali, Bijay Mahara in Rautahat, Durgesh Yadav in Lalitpur and Sambhu Sada in Dhanusha. In all these cases, law enforcement agencies are responsible for their deaths. In the two cases related to death in custody, where in detainees were found hanging while in the custody, police have failed to monitor detainees. It is police’s duty to analyze if any detainee should be under suicide watch and to prevent such incidents in the detention centres.

Arguing that death in custody hardly gets investigated; the two organizations urge the sub-committee to instruct police to mandatorily investigate custodial deaths.