Indian police use violence as a shortcut to justice. It s the poorest who bear the scars
By Mohit Rao
Updated 3:57 AM ET, Thu December 3, 2020
Bengaluru, India (CNN)It was minutes into India s Independence Day when police stormed a slum in the western state of Gujarat where Hira Bajania, 65, was sleeping. In the black of night, he was dragged from his home, taken to a nearby police station and accused, with 11 other men, of stealing cell phones.
As dawn broke on a day commemorating India s freedom, one by one the men were taken from their cell to be interrogated for up to 30 minutes, according to a complaint subsequently filed to police, and seen by CNN. They were bound, stripped, beaten, abused and, according to two people in the group, tortured sexually and told to confess. Many returned to their cell limping, unable to stand or sit, say several of the men. All denied the charges.