Custodial Torture Of Minor Boy: NHRC Urged To Take Action Against Erring Odisha Cop

Cuttack: Close on the heels of the alleged custodial torture of six youths in Pipili police station in Puri district, a petition has been filed in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking action against the erring cop.

According to the petition filed by a journalist Rakesh Roshan Mohanty, the Pipili police had arrested six persons including a minor boy of Jayapur Sasan village for assaulting one Sajid Khan near the BJD office near Bhabanipur around 9.30 pm on November 15.

After keeping them in custody for six days, police forwarded them to Nimapada jail on November 19. But the jail authorities refused to lodge them considering their health condition. The next morning, police took the accused to Nimpada government hospital where the doctors referred them to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

The petitioner said that the family members Jayapur Sasan village have refuted the claim of the police that they had arrested six persons near the BJD office They said that police picked the minor boy from their house between 8 pm and 8.30 pm on the same day without any prior information. The family members further said that while the age of the minor boy is 17, police have mentioned his age as 18.

Stating that the police have forwarded the minor boy to the court after physically torturing him in their custody for six days in gross violation of the Supreme Court guidelines, Mohanty prayed the Commission to urgently intervene in the matter and direct the state government to immediately release the minor boy from the Nimapada sub-jail, provide a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to his family and initiate legal action against the Pipili IIC Gouranga Charan Prusty.

Notably, the Odisha Police in a release on November 21 had said that the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police (central range) will probe into the alleged custodial torture.

Also Read: DIG To Probe Alleged Custodial Torture Of Youths In Odisha’s Pipili