- A 19-year-old man was allegedly tortured in custody at Sohra police station in Meghalaya
- He was made to drink water from a toilet and suffered serious injuries
- His mother filed an FIR and human rights complaint against the police
A 19-year-old man was allegedly tortured in custody and made to drink water from a toilet at Sohra police station in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district, resulting in serious injuries, officials said.
He was found with serious injuries after being taken into custody at the Sohra Police Station, of Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills yesterday, prompting his mother to file an FIR and human rights complaint against the police. Meghalaya police have decided to probe the allegation of custodial torture.
According to a written complaint submitted to both the Chairman of the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and the Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, the victim's mother claimed she accompanied her son to the police station at around 9 AM on July 6 after learning that the police were looking for him. However, she was shocked to find him in a severely injured condition when she returned to the station later that evening.
He was rushed to the Sohra Community Health Centre and later shifted to the Civil Hospital, Shillong, for further treatment. His release was scheduled for July 7.
In her complaint dated July 7, the mother alleged that if her son had done anything wrong, the police were duty-bound to follow legal procedures, not resort to physical abuse. She stated that the alleged torture and the fact that her son was released the same day indicated a blatant violation of his human rights.
She urged the authorities to treat her complaint as both an FIR and an official human rights petition against the conduct of the Sohra police.
