Custodial death of Assam rape accused: Court seeks answers from govt

The Gauhati High Court issued a notice to the Assam government on Monday (September 16, 2024) in a case related to the custodial death of a rape accused on August 24.

One of three people accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Dhing, central Assam, a handcuffed Tafajjul Islam reportedly drowned while trying to escape from police custody.

Abdul Awal filed a petition in the high court seeking a judicial probe into the custodial death of his son and compensation. He also claimed that the arrest of his son was a case of mistaken identity based on the wrong photograph of one of the accused that went viral on social media.

Hearing the case on Monday, a division bench of Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Soumitra Saikia asked the Assam government to provide details about the incident by November 4, the next hearing date.

Zunaid Khalid, the petitioner’s counsel, argued that the gang rape accused, and the deceased were namesakes. He also said the petitioner was not provided with documents related to the post-mortem or death certificate.

In May, the Supreme Court expressed concern over custodial deaths and extrajudicial killings in Assam. The court was hearing a petition that cited 80 cases of “fake encounters” since May 2021, which resulted in 28 deaths and 48 injuries.