’33 cases of custodial deaths registered in J&K in last five years’

New Delhi, Dec 1: The Ministry of Home Affairs Wednesday informed the parliament that a total of 33 custodial deaths have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir in the last five years.
The queries were raised in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday in the ongoing winter session of parliament which include the details of custodial deaths during the last five years and the steps taken by the Government to rectify the situation.
The Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Nityanand Rai responded to the queries in the house.
In a written reply in the parliament, the minister said that a total of 33 cases under custodial deaths have been registered in Jammu and Kashmir in the last five years.
Giving a year wise breakup of the figures, the minister informed that 7 cases were registered between 2016-17 followed by 4 in 2017-2018, and 8 in 2018-19 and 5 in 2019-2020.
He informed that 2 cases with police and 7 judicial cases were registered between 2020 to 2021.
As per the written reply the details filed were received from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) during the last five years.
The minister said that as per the seventh schedule to the Constitution of India, ‘Police’, ‘Prison’ and ‘Public Order’ are state subjects.
“It is for the respective State Governments to take action in every crime. The Central Government does not intervene directly in these matters, but does issue advisories from time to time, while the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issues guidelines and recommendations to be followed by the States/UTs in all cases of custodial deaths”, the minister said.
He also said that in addition, workshops/ seminars are also organized by NHRC from time to time to sensitize officers in the State Governments for better protection of human rights and particularly protection of rights of persons in custody. (KNO)