Every year many people are losing their lives due to the barbaric fighting of police in every state of the country, what is the reason for the increasing deaths
Death in custody in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu has raised questions about the police accountability and how to work. The 27 -year -old Ajit Kumar was a security guard at the Madapuram Kalliaman Temple located near Madurai. The temple is managed under the ‘Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments’ Department. On 28 June, a devotee lodged a complaint of theft in the temple. On the basis of the complaint, Tirupuvanam police took him into custody the security guard Ajit. The arrest was not shown. Later a viral video caused panic. In the video, policeman Ajit is seen beating Ajit with sticks at a deserted place. Ajit died exactly the next day. The family alleges that he was tortured in police custody. The post mortem report mentions 18 injuries on his body.
Seeing the dispute escalating, five policemen were arrested and six were suspended. Now the Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter. Also, judicial inquiry has also been ordered. But the question is the same, and how many Ajit Kumar?
Incidents of deaths in custody are happening in almost every state. In all cases, a fact remains the same that the accused have been treated in the detained. The Ministry of Home Affairs has confirmed the 22 March 2022 report. A total of 4247 deaths have been detained in India between April 2020 to February 2022. There were 255 deaths in police custody and 3992 deaths in judicial custody. During just 2021-22, 155 people died in police custody across the country. Four deaths in Tamil Nadu were registered in police custody and 93 deaths were registered in judicial custody.
The National Human Rights Commission makes a detailed report on why these deaths have occurred. The Commission also takes action if any negligence or disturbance is found. Compensation is generally recommended to the victim’s family and disciplinary action on the accused.
In the case of Kumar, the police claimed that they fainted during interrogation. But the video and post mortem report tells something else. The Status of Policy in India Report 2025 published by ‘Common Cause Lokniti Program’ gives information about police torture and its accountability. In research, some police behaviors have been told about which death figures are increasing in custody. This report is based on a survey of 8276 policemen from 17 states and union territories.
Scene of viral video of beating
According to the report, the police also use force for normal work. This is part of his working style. About 30 percent of the policemen said that in serious cases, third degree is tortured. Nine percent admitted that it is also used in small crimes. Some admitted that it is sometimes right to slap witnesses who do not cooperate or beat the family members of the accused. The study also found that officers who regularly inquire, there is a possibility that they should hold these methods correct.
The report investigated how much legal procedures are followed during the arrests. 41 percent of the policemen said that these procedures are always adopted, while 24 percent said that they are rarely adopted in cases. More than half said that it is not always possible to present a arrested person to the magistrate within 24 hours. These are basic legal requirements but reports that they are not followed.
According to the SPIR report, there is a difference in data from official and independent sources in registering deaths in custody. For example, in 2020, the National Crime Records Bureau registered 76 deaths in custody, while NHRC document 90 and the Civil Society Group National Campaign Against Torture documented 111 deaths.
Looking at Kumar’s case, the time between his detention and death was less than two days. According to SPIR 2025, most of the deaths in police custody occur in the first 24 hours of arrest. Of the deaths reported by NCRB in 2022, 55 percent were those in which the person was not yet sent to judicial custody. Between 2018 and 2022 in Gujarat, 96 percent police custody died in the first 24 hours.
According to NHRC rules, judicial inquiry in each detention case is mandatory, but according to SPIR 2025, in 2022, only 35 percent of cases were initiated in cases. Between 2018 and 2022, legal cases were registered in only 10 percent of cases of deaths in police custody. The charge sheet of them was also filed in only 12 percent. However, interesting is that no one was found guilty in it.
Kumar’s case matches several previous incidents, in which a person is detained, then he is reportedly to be physically tortured, as a result he dies in custody. Just as evidence has been found in this case, sometimes in some other cases, video evidence is found. On getting evidence, pressure is made to take action on the police. What results on this is a matter of different debate. But where there is no such evidence, those cases do not get that much attention.
Kumar’s death is being investigated or being investigated because a video is present as a record proof. Also, this video has become so viral that there is no scope left for not taking action now. In many other cases, it becomes difficult for families to prove true and criminals are released from getting punished.
Tamil Nadu has detained many more deaths in recent years. In 2020, P. Jayaraj and J.K. Bennix’s deaths caught everyone’s attention at the national level. In that case too, there were allegations of harassment in custody. After a ruckus, the matter was eventually handed over to the CBI for investigation. The trial in that case is still going on.
Kumar’s family says that they want a fair investigation. He also says that Ajit had no criminal record. Currently, the results of the CBI investigation are awaited.
According to NHRC records, compensation was recommended in 137 cases of deaths detained in 2021–22. Some of these cases are still pending.
Compensation was recommended in three cases in Tamil Nadu, whose total amount was eight lakh rupees. But the figures in case of further action with compensation are quite low. In 2021-22, disciplinary action was recommended in only one case of Tamil Nadu and prosecution was not done in any case. At the national level, there was no conviction in any case of death in custody during that period. In the absence of evidence, the accused are roaming open.
Whether compensation or some officials are suspended or arrested, data shows that apart from Khanapurti, the accountability is still not being fixed in a solid way. After death in custody, the double mountain often breaks on the family. Along with losing the family, they also have to listen to the taunts of the society because the person is convicted without being proved without being proved, whose stigma is placed on his forehead throughout his life. Only in the name of inquiry, the person who went to the police station comes out as a victim of police action.
