Reforms in police force an urgent need
Amid the outrage against lawmakers following the alleged custodial torture of the father-son duo at Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi and their subsequent deaths, the Tiruchy wing of the Tamil Nadu police identified 80 officers who apparently had poor track records of interacting with the public and took them off duty. They have now been enrolled in a specially designed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course to improve the way they deal with the public and will gradually be reintegrated into regular duties later.
This reorientation is welcome but one hopes it is not reduced to tokenism once the dust settles. Earlier too, such special sessions have taken place in many units in TN. Team sports have been organised among policemen across ranks, and sessions on self-management conducted for officers in plainclothes, but these exercises need to be institutionalised and not just done in fits and starts. One cannot ignore the psychological factors behind the police turning aggressive.
The biggest challenge is the humongous pressure from higher-ups and excruciatingly long working hours due to excessive staff shortage. In TN, the police-population ratio is 1:632. While still better than the national average of 1:724, TN topped the list in the southern states with 76 custodial deaths, according to an Asian Centre for Human Rights report, in 2018. The local political muscle and caste dynamics add to their psychological load.
There is an urgent need for reforms in the force. Their disproportionate powers have been drawn from the Police Act, 1861, a draconian legislation brought into effect after the revolt of 1857. The present lockdown seems to have made them more aggressive, which is not done as the restrictions ought to be people-driven. Hours after the Sathankulam investigation began, Coimbatore police beat up a Class X student after he challenged them for shutting down his parents’ eatery. June 26 was the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. If the Sathankulam murders kick-off a nationwide movement to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) that India signed in 1997, the present awakening would achieve a definite purpose.