Starting October 3, The Morung Express is publishing a series, “101 Things You Wanted To Ask About the Police but Were Too Afraid To Ask,*” an easy guidebook published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on knowing the police better. The questions 85-87 in the series are given below:
If the police suspect me of committing a crime, can they also arrest my family members?
No. There is no guilt by association. Each person's guilt or innocence has to be judged by their own individual actions and not because they are close to or related to someone else who is a suspect. No one's freedom can be taken away except for a specific lawful reason.
The police cannot threaten family members or friends or take them into custody as bargaining tools. This kind of hostage taking would amount to the serious crimes of illegal detention or kidnapping at a minimum. No matter how difficult the case is that the police are trying to solve, they cannot resort to illegal practices in order to put pressure on the suspect to give himself up or make a confession. The only people who can be arrested are those against whom there is a reasonable ground for thinking they have committed a crime.
Are there special rules for arrest and treatment of women in custody?
Absolutely yes! No woman can be arrested between sunset and sunrise unless there are very special reasons for doing so. Even then, special permission must be got in writing from a magistrate after the magistrate is satisfied there are reasons for allowing this. A woman police officer has to be present when the arrest is made. The woman has to be kept in a separate lock up in the police station and any examination or body search has to be done by a woman officer or doctor. It is in the best interests of the police officers themselves to make sure that all procedures relating to women are carefully followed and records are meticulously kept. For instance, the law says that if a woman in custody complains of rape it will be accepted unless the police officer can show that it did not happen.
What about children? Are there some special procedures for them?
Under the general law, children under the age of 7 years cannot be accused of a crime. Thus, they cannot be taken into police custody. However, the procedure for questioning, apprehension, custody, release and bail of children accused of crime up to the age of 18 is all governed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Each district and city must have a Special Juvenile Police Unit, and each police station must have a child welfare officer who must not be below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police. They are responsible for the care and well-being of the child who must not be kept in the lockup at all. As soon as the child is apprehended by the police, s/he is to be placed in the charge of the special juvenile unit or the designated child welfare officer. The child must be produced before a Juvenile Justice Board in the shortest time, latest within 24 hours, excluding the time needed to travel from the place where the child was apprehended.
Normally the child should be released on bail and handed back to his/her parents or an appropriate person. Only if the Board feels the child is at risk of falling into bad company or could be exposed to danger, it can refuse bail. If this happens, the child must be sent to a local observation home while the Board hears the case. The main principle that governs the treatment of a child in conflict with the law is that all processes must have a child friendly approach "in the best interest of the child for their ultimate rehabilitation."
(To be contd…)
Source: *Written by Navaz Kotwal and Maja Daruwal, the contents of the book are reproduced here with permission.
To know more about CHRI visit:
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org
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