Brutal exposure

THE Ryan International School murder case continues to remind us of how poorly our police forces perform. First they bumbled and bungled in the sensitive and high-profile case of a child’s murder in the school. On the orders of his seniors, the bus conductor had rushed to the site of the crime and readily carried the seriously injured boy to the car, poised to take the child to hospital. A fairly natural sequence of events. Then the public outrage and media glare, also fairly natural, following the death of the seven-year-old led to a rather unprofessional conduct by the cops. Under public pressure, they zeroed in on the poor conductor, accusing him of murder, cooking up evidences along a shoddy investigation process.

It now transpires that the police had brutally tortured the poor semi-literate bus conductor of the Gurugram school into confessing to the murder. The torment and shock treatment of the poor accused in custody is plainly illegal and unwarranted; what makes it worse is that the CBI has subsequently pointed the finger of suspicion on little Pradyuman’s schoolmate. The gross mishandling of the case reinforces the perception of the force as being generally incompetent, partisan, corrupt and politicised. The inhumane treatment meted out to the poor bus conductor bespeaks of a brutalised and brutalising police force. It is ironic that the police need to be reminded that they must uphold the rule of law in all situations. Under no circumstances must they violate the mandate of protecting the human rights of the accused. 

The case also puts focus on the need of police reforms. Their methods and mode of functioning are woefully outdated, calling for modernisation. We are much short of the required number of police personnel for our citizens’ safety. Of those that we do have, many are put on duty with VVIPs, making the balance more disproportionate. For maximum efficiency and accountability, it is high time that our cops are adequately equipped with weaponry, forensic support, and transportation and communication means. Only an impartial and competent police force can drive the criminal justice system to its logical end.