Teen ‘killed’ by cops,family says NHRC relief first step to justice

Last Thursday,the NHRC directed the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh to Durgesh’s family and asked for a compliance report,along with information on the outcome of the criminal case registered in the matter. It also asked for the status of the disciplinary proceedings against the sub-inspectors concerned.

“The police killed Durgesh brutally in their attempt to know the whereabouts of his elder brother,Sunny,against whom a complaint of theft had been lodged. They beat up Durgesh and later tied a belt around his neck,which caused his death. After Durgesh died,they hanged his body and left,” said Durgesh’s father Uma Shankar,a resident of Harila locality of Dataganj police circle in Badaun.

While a case of murder was initially registered after the incident,now the police are asserting that it was a case of suicide. The accused cops,they say,were guilty of abetment.

Bareilly Circle Officer Prakash Swaroop Pandey,who is conducting the investigation,said: “We have not found anything that shows the boy was killed by the policemen. It seems to be a case of abetment of suicide. Investigation is still on.”

Durgesh’s grandfather,Ram Swaroop,and elder brother,Rajeev,had reportedly witnessed Durgesh’s “killing”. They were also allegedly tortured by the policemen in the same room.

Durgesh,a Class VIII student,was the youngest of four sons of Uma Shankar. According to him,on January 12,2008,Meena,a eunuch,filed a complaint with the Dataganj police station,alleging that two persons,one of whom was Durgesh’s elder brother,Sunny,had stolen her money.

During the inquiry,the police visited Sunny’s house,but failed to find him.

On January 20,2008,four policemen again arrived at Uma Shankar’s house and inquired about Sunny. When the family failed to provide any information,the police reportedly started beating Sunny’s elder brother,Rajeev,Durgesh and their grandfather. One of the policemen then allegedly tied his belt around the neck of Durgesh,which caused his death.

“I was working in the fields. On learning of my son’s death,I rushed home and found him hanging. Rajeev and my father were lying injured in a corner of the house,” said Uma Shankar.

He added: “One of the neighbours called senior police

officers who sent the body for postmortem. Later,a murder case was lodged against the four policemen.”

The Badaun police investigated the case till November 2009,when Bareilly IG ordered that the investigation be transferred to Bareilly.