This paper describes a death in a Kerala police station, allegedly due to custodial violence. Udayan, a 28-year-old basket-maker, was arrested on 19 January 1994, allegedly for carrying counterfeit currency. He was dead by the following day. The police allege that he hanged himself but this is disputed by his family and others who claim that he had been tortured in custody. Disturbances surrounding his burial resulted in the death of a policeman in uncertain circumstances. AI’s concern about the incidence of death in police custody in India was described in a major report in 1992 (“India: torture, rape and deaths in custody”). AI is calling for all such deaths to be investigated independently and impartially and for their perpetrators to be brought to justice.
