Phase Pardhi man's custodial death: State cops snub NHRC

Spurred by a Phase Pardhi manrsquos death due to alleged custodial torture the National Human Rights Commission had sought a detailed report from Maharashtra in six weeks but the state authorities failed to comply with the deadline that ended in midDecember As per the Crime Investigation Department the NHRCrsquos letter had been addressed to the Solapur police chief and they received it only last weekBhima Kale 35 from the Phase Pardhi tribe died on October 3 2021 due to alleged custodial torture at Vijapur Naka police station in Solapur district Kale who worked as a farm labourer lived with his wife Swati and their seven children She is now struggling to eke out a livingBhima Kalersquos wife Swati and their seven children at their home in Solapur districtHis family alleged that Kale was picked up by the police on September 18 on the suspicion of theft but was produced in court only on September 23 During these six days of ldquoillegal detentionrdquo he was tortured they said The role of investigating officer API Shantikumar Kolhyal was in questionKalersquos family said that Pardhis are often picked up by the police when a crime takes place in the city They had staged a protest following Kalersquos deathMoved by middayrsquos frontpage report of October 9 2021 on Kalersquos custodial death a Delhibased human rights activist Sentinaro Imchen submitted a complaint at NHRC ldquoAnd finally the NHRC registered a complaint on October 18 and subsequently the proceedings were taken up on November 11 and the concerned authorities including the district magistratecollector as well as police commissioner of Solapur district had been directed to submit their detailed reports within six weeksrdquo said human rights lawyer Dilip Chakma who is also the member of Indigenous Rights Advocacy CentreSwati Kale with her seven children She has demanded the strictest punishment for the guilty copsChakma said the apex rights body sought a detailed report covering all the aspects leading to Kalersquos death including documents pertaining to the complaint against him and his subsequent arrest and diary entries showing the sequence of actions postmortem report describing the injuriesIn the letter Chakma said NHRC also sought information on ldquoaction taken report on the magisterial enquiry report final outcomestatus of departmental action or criminal proceedings if any CBCID inquiry report if anyrdquoldquoCustodial death of any person is the worst form of human rights violation The Pardhi community is particularly vulnerable and an easy target of false criminalisation because of the lsquocriminal tagrsquo Bhima Kalersquos case is of serious concern and investigation must be swift and transparentrdquo Chakma saidldquoIt is more than six weeks and the state authorities have failed to respond to the NHRCrsquos directions seeking detailed reports The NHRC should take a serious note of the nonsubmission of the reportsrdquo he addedCase handed to CIDThe commissioner of Solapur police Harish Baijal told midday that the matter has been transferred to state CID team which is probing into the matter of alleged custodial deathWhen asked if investigating officer API Kolhyal was suspended Baijal said ldquoHe was suspended in another matter of dereliction of dutyrdquoAdvocate Rajendrasingh Bayas the counsel for Swati said he has not been given any document related to the case ldquoI have learnt that one FIR is also registered against API Kolhyal under section 302 of IPC and Atrocities Act But the cops are not sharing any case related documents with usrdquo Bayas saidA senior police officer attached to Solapur police told midday that the cause of Bhima Kalersquos death was cellulitismdasha kind of bacterial infectionmdashand that he was not subjected to custodial torture at alllsquoKalersquos brother yet to record statementrsquoCiting the cause of delay in responding to the NHRC letter a senior CID officer from Pune said it was addressed to Solapur police commissioner ldquoThe letter was directed to us recently and we are about to file a detailed report within a monthrdquo said the officerAbout the progress in the investigation the CID officer said ldquoWe have recorded the statements of almost all the people concerned in this matter But the statement of his brother is still pending as he is not available Medical reports have come to us station diary entry of his lockup CCTV footage spoke to all the IOs in this case civil hospital report inquest panchanama injury marks if any provisional cause of death certificate which is given by medical college etc have been collected But the statements of a few people including his brother are yet to be donerdquoldquoThe histopathological report is very important but it is still pending And magisterial enquiry report is also pendingrdquo added the CID officerSwati whorsquos struggling to feed her children said ldquoMy husband has left behind seven childrenhellip itrsquos a very big responsibility for me to nourish them I lead a handtomouth existencehellipwe often have to sleep without dinnerhellipwe all miss himrdquoldquoThose who are involved in the custodial torture and the untimely death of my husband must be dealt with iron handhellipwe have been demanding this since day one but no one listens to poor people like usrdquo said a choked Swati However Kalersquos brother Rajesh Kale who is a corporator and deputy mayor at the Municipal Corporation in Solapur told midday that he and his family members were pressed to withdraw the case ldquoThere are many people who tried to mount pressure on us to withdraw the casehellipthey also offered us a bribe but when we said no I was externed from Solapur by the police for two yearsrdquo said Rajesh who had led the protests against the policemen immediately after Kalersquos death Rajesh said he was booked in six false cases