EDITORIAL TEAM MEMBER OF 'NAZARIYA' VALLIKA VARSHRI MISSING CASE : ABDUCTION AND BRUTAL TORTURE AND LIFE THREAT OF STUDENTS AND OTHER ACTIVISTS BY DELHI POLICE SPECIAL CELL
The Delhi police special branch abducted Gurkirat, Gaurav, and Gaurang Members of Bhagat Singh chhatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM) separately on the 9th of July. Ehtemam - Ul Haque, and Baadal, from Forum Against Corporatisation and Militarisation (FACAM) were abducted on 11th of July. Samrat Singh, social activist and psychologist was abducted by the Delhi police special cell from his residence in Haryana without any due process on the 12th of July. On the 19th of July, student activist Rudra was abducted by the same special branch police from the New Delhi Railway Station and released on the 21st of July. All of them were illegally detained in the Delhi Police Special Cell, CV Raman Marg Near Taimur Nagar Gurudwara. This is not a proper police station but rather resembles a torture centre of special cell, where they were subjected to Brutal torture. The special branch alleged that Vallika Varshi of Nazariya magazine has been missing and this illegal investigation is done to find her whereabouts. However, no legal procedures usually to be followed were followed. We have apprehension that her mother Archana Varma, Additional Secretary Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, Govt. of India is behind this entire episode of illegal detention, and torture of her fellow friends and activist.
Gurkirat of bsCEM was released on 16th of July after 8 days of illegal detention. Baadal was released on the 17th, after being abducted when she reached Delhi from her home on 11th, illegally detained for 7 days. These two were beaten, tortured, sexually harassed, and. They were also threatened with rape using rods. Gaurav and Gaurang were released on the 17th as well, after 9 days of illegal detention. They were stripped naked, beaten, and subjected to inhumane treatment including having his head dunked in toilet bowls. Samrat was picked from his home on the 12th and released on the 18th after 7 days of illegal custody. Ehtemam, released on the 18th after 8 days of illegal Custody. He was stripped naked, beaten brutally multiple times, electrocuted, and tortured in various ways physically and mentally. He was also subjected to Islamophobic slurs and attacked multiple times for his identity. On the 19th of July, student activist Rudra was abducted by the same special branch police from the New Delhi Railway Station and released on the 21st of July. The activists claim the first three days were the worst, and that they could hear screams from other rooms around them while they were all being kept in separate rooms.
None of these detentions followed the legal procedures required under Article 22 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of one’s choice. Nor were the requirements laid out in the D.K. Basu v. The State of West Bengal (1997) Supreme Court judgment adhered to—no arrest memos were prepared, families were not informed, and the detainees were denied access to legal counsel. The torture of the detained comrades by the hands of the special branch police amounts to criminal offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including wrongful restraint and confinement (Sections 124 and 125), kidnapping and abduction (Sections 137 and 138), voluntarily causing hurt and grievous hurt (Sections 112–115), and criminal intimidation (Section 138(2)), as well as violations of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, where applicable. The Indian Supreme Court has repeatedly held that custodial torture is not only illegal but a direct assault on the rule of law.
CASR strongly condemns the illegal abduction and torture of Student and other activists and calls upon all sections of society—civil liberties organisations, trade unions, student movements, lawyers, journalists, artists, and ordinary citizens—to raise their voices and stand united against this assault on democratic freedoms and to especially demand strict judicial enquiry and action against all the officers involved..
*CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE REPRESSION
Organising Team*
(AIRSO, AISA, AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, SFI, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)
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