Thursday, August 05, 2004

Indian Torture

In today's Washington Post, Rama Lakshmi reports that Indian police torture suspects to death:

"MEERUT, India -- Rajeev Sharma, a young electrician, was sleeping when police barged into his house a month ago and dragged him out of bed on suspicion of a burglary in the neighborhood, his family recalled.
When his young wife and brother protested, the police, who did not show them an arrest warrant, said they were taking Sharma to the police station for 'routine questioning.' The widow of Rajeev Sharma, an alleged victim of police torture, holds his photo as the family sits outside their home in Meerut, India. Next to her is Sunil Sharma, who says police had beaten his younger brother 'very badly.' Little did we know that we would lose him forever,' said Sunil Sharma, Rajeev's brother, recounting how he died while in police custody. 'Their routine questioning proved fatal,' he added, sitting beside his brother's grieving widow.

"Rajeev Sharma, 28, died at the police station within a day of his detention. Police said he committed suicide, but his family charges that he was beaten and killed."