On Monday, near Mukherjee Nagar Police Station, an argument between a Sikh driver and a police official took an ugly turn. The Sikh who was a senior citizen was brutally thrashed along with the 15-year-old Sikh boy who was with him. The incident was a pure example of police brutality and it showed how the police are capable of abusing their power when they want to. This article is not a rant, but it is a mirror of truth.
Here’s What Happened
According to police, the elderly truck driver bumped into a police van and an argument between the driver and the cops followed.
The driver allegedly attempted to attack the cops by pulling out a sword. The officer ran towards the police station and came back with a squad of around 15 policemen and started thrashing the elderly truck driver with ‘lathis’. One of the policemen started beating up the 15-year-old boy with ‘lathis’ while dragging them both towards the police station.
How Was This A Violation Of Human Rights?
According to a video uploaded on YouTube, I believe that a number of human rights were violated by the police officers in this case. Please read the laws mentioned below:
According To CrPC Section 41B – “An arrest memorandum must be made at the time of arrest mentioning the name and rank of the officer, the place of arrest, the time of arrest, and the reason of arrest along with the signatures of the officer, the person who is arrested, and a witness of the arrest.” Clearly, we cannot see a memorandum being made in the video as both, the elderly man and the child were brutally beaten and dragged into the police station. First of all, the police have no right to beat up anyone so brutally, especially a minor. It was mentioned by the 15-year-old that the officers kept beating him even inside the police station. A second law violated here.
According To CrPC Section 54 – “The person being arrested has the right to ask for a medical test to be conducted at the time of the arrest.” However, in this case, the police officers didn’t even give them a chance to speak. How were they supposed to ask for a medical check-up? The reason why this law is in place is that a medical test is conducted before the suspect is presented in the court and if the police beat the suspect up during his arrest in the prison, the wounds will be detected by the difference in the two medical reports. Also, according to CrPC Section 56, it is the duty of a police officer to present the suspect in the court within 24 hours of arrest. Clearly, the officers were not planning on taking them both to the court as they didn’t even care about the medical. Also, there’s no need for a medical in this case as an image of the elderly Sikh’s body is a solid proof of police brutality. Not to mention, the VIDEOS.
According To CrPC Section 55A – “The health and safety of the arrested person are the responsibility of the police.” I mean, seriously? It is mentioned in the constitution of our country that the health and safety of the arrested person are the responsibility of the police. The above image shows how much “care” was provided to the elderly Sikh by the police officers.
The Outcome Of The Incident
The outcome of the incident was three police officials being suspended and the others being beaten up by a mob of angry Sikhs outside Mukherjee Nagar Police Station. Now, the police officers knew that they had it coming. I’m not saying that mob violence is justified, however, what those police officers did wasn’t justified at all. Being a saviour of law and a soldier of justice, you are yourself breaking the law and serving injustice. Does this incident make any sense to you? Because to me, It doesn’t.
Is The Outcome Justified?
In my opinion, no, not at all. The suspension of three high ranked police officers is not the solution to this problem. Neither is the beating up of policemen by a mob of angry people. According to me, each and every police officer responsible for this horrible incident should be arrested and jailed. I’m not angry, I’m just disgusted and horrified by the incident. An even bigger shocker to me was that people were driving by or spectating the incident instead of trying to help those poor Sikhs. I mean, where is humanity? Just because they are policemen, they are allowed to do whatever they want? We need to rise above this mentality and stand up against such incidents. Just posting images and videos on social media won’t help.
Well, this was my insight on the incident and I hope that justice is served soon. Also, incidents like this should never happen as they reflect a bad image of our country and the people living here.