Srinagar: A court in Jammu on Thursday (March 6) directed the Jammu and Kashmir police to register an FIR into the custodial torture of a tribal man from Kathua who was allegedly driven to die by suicide last month.
The court of sub-judge Kathua directed the station house officer of Billawar to file an FIR into a complaint filed by the father and the wife of Makhan Din, 25, a resident of the Bhatodi village in Kathua district, who was allegedly tortured in police custody and later died by suicide on February 5.
“The station house officer, Billawar is directed to … initiate a thorough investigation into the matter in accordance with the law,” the court ruled on Wednesday, more than a month after Din died by suicide in a mosque allegedly to escape police torture.
In their complaint, besides the allegations of custodial torture, the bereaved family has also said that Din had sought drinking water when he was dying but that police officials from the Billawar police station prevented his family members from fulfilling his wish.
“Makhan Din was crying for water and his sister Jatti and her husband Rashid Ahmed managed a bottle of water, but the police official did not allow Makhan Din to drink water, which further deteriorated his condition,” the complaint filed by the family in the court noted.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, one of the two lawyers who had approached the court seeking directions to the police to file an FIR into the incident, said that the order was the first step towards justice for Din and his bereaved family.
“I am hopeful that justice will be done in the case,” Ahmed told The Wire.
The court observed that the allegations of torture levelled by Din’s family against some police officials of the Billawar police station are “serious” in nature while turning down the prosecuting officer’s argument that a report was required from a superior officer under Section 175(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) before filing an FIR into the case as the allegations have been levelled against public servants.
“The argument is vague as the alleged act can under no stretch of imagination be construed as an act done in the discharge of official duty. Furthermore. the purported video of the deceased before the suicide raises substantial concerns that require a thorough investigation,” the court observed.
Section 175 deals with a police officer’s power to investigate cognisable offences.
Under subsection 4, any magistrate empowered under section 210 may order an investigation against a public servant after receiving a report containing the facts and circumstances of the incident from a superior public servant and after hearing the suspect’s version.
Citing judgements of the Supreme Court and the J&K high court, the court observed that it was a “settled principle of law” that a judicial, magisterial or other inquiry cannot become grounds for not filing an FIR “when the allegations prima facie disclose the commission of a cognisable offence”.
Setting aside a separate complaint filed by Ahmed and another lawyer in the case, the court observed that multiple FIRs in one incident “would lead to prejudice against the accused and inconsistencies in the investigation”.
“While it is true that anyone can be a complainant and report the commission of an offence under BNSS in the present matter, the father and wife of the deceased have already reported for the registration of the FIR. The application moved by the two advocates is merely a repetition of the allegations stated by the father and wife of the deceased and does not introduce any new facts or circumstances warranting a separate FIR,” the court observed.
The police told the court that they launched inquest proceedings into the case on February 5 under section 194 of the BNSS, which deals with inquiries to ascertain a person’s cause of death.
In its ‘action taken report’, the police told the court that a magisterial enquiry was ordered by the district magistrate into the case on February 6, which has not been concluded so far and that a preliminary inquiry “has not found any evidence to satisfy that the deceased and his father were subjected to torture by the police”.
“All three inquiries are pending and a thorough and impartial inquiry is ongoing,” the police told the court, rejecting the allegations levelled by Din’s family that he was forced to die by suicide due to police torture.
If you know someone – a friend or a family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of phone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. The TeleManas helpline, a government helpline, functions 24×7; its number is 1-800-891-4416 or 14416. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.
