BSF torturing of a man pushes his family into starvation

INDIA: BSF torturing of a man pushes his family into starvation and leads to death of his daughter
ISSUES: Torture; inhuman and degrading treatment; illegal detention, hunger, starvation, corruption; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum) that the family of Mr. Majim Sardar, a victim of illegal detention and custodial torture, is on the brink of starvation. Mr. Sardar is a tribal man from district of Murshidabad in West Bengal. The victim has already lost their fourteen year old daughter who died of hunger and related ailments on 7 July 2012. It is reported that the victim was repeatedly tortured and kept and illegally detained by the constables of Border Security Force. He was also denied medical treatment for the injuries inflicted on him by the BSF personnel. AHRC has also learnt that the local police have initiated a criminal case against him while not taking any action against his complaint against the BSF personnel.

We call on you to write an appeal to the authorities responsible for holding the BSF accountable for their illegal and brutal conduct. With your help in drawing attention to Majim Sardar’s case, we are bringing pressure to bear on Indian authorities to undertake the social and institutional reforms so desperately needed in these regions.

CASE NARRATIVE:
The fact-finding team of MASUM found out that the victim was picked up from Kaharpara Iron Bridge while he was on his way back home from the local market in the evening of 23rd July 2012. The BSF jawans who captured him cited no reasons for that and started brutally assaulting him using wooden sticks and rifle butts immediately. The assault continued for a while as the jawans gave a deaf ear to his continued pleas of mercy. He was then pushed down on the road and the perpetrators kicked him in chest and back knocking him almost unconscious.
Figuring out his condition, the jawans rushed him to Raninagar Police station for handing his custody over to the civilian police. However, the officer in charge of the Police Station refused to take the victim into his custody and instead asked the BSF jawans to provide the victim with medical treatment. Instead of getting him treated, the BSF jawans, however, took him to Kaharpara BSF Camp, and detained him in ailing condition.
BSF brought the victim back to the Raninagar Police Station on 26 June 2012 and lodged a complaint against him. On the basis of that complaint, the police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the victim under vide Raninagar Police Station Case no. 350/2012 dated 25.6.2012 under section 188 of Indian Penal Code (Disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant). The police then took the victim to Godhanpara Primary Health Centre and after routine medical checkup; he was produced in the Labagh Court in connection with the aforesaid criminal case on the same day. He was later released on bail by the concerned judicial magistrate. On 4 July 2012, the victim too had lodged a complaint with the office of Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad against the BSF jawans for initiating legal action against them. However, he is yet to get any reply, forget relief.

The victim has yet not fully recovered from his injuries and is undergoing medical treatment the cost of which has deteriorated his already bad economic situation. Despite repeated attempts, his name was not approved in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list and he was never provided with a job under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Because of the burden of meeting medical costs, his family slipped into starvation that resulted in the death of his daughter Dipa, aged 14 years, due to hunger and related ailments on 7 July, 2012.

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