Indian policing and the legacy of violence

You will recall the horrific custodial deaths of Jayaraj and his son Bennicks in Tamil Nadu in June 2020, following their arrest for allegedly violating Covid-19 restrictions.

- NEHA BHATT

You might also remember the death of Faizan in February 2020 while in custody after the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)—an incident the High Court last year termed a "gross violation of human rights" and a hate crime.

These are hardly exceptions. It's well documented that such police torture is usually reserved for suspects from marginalized communities, lower castes, and religious minorities.

A freshly released study, the "Status of Policing in India Report 2025: Police Torture and (Un)Accountability", reveals that 30 per cent of police personnel surveyed said third-degree methods of torture were justified in serious criminal cases, while 22 per cent believed killing "dangerous criminals" is preferable to giving them a legal trial.

The routineness of such brutality, which provokes little political outrage, provides adequate ground for Policing and Violence in India: Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Realities, edited by academics Deana Heath and Jinee Lokaneeta. Drawing on new research, it features essays and reflections by historians, lawyers, academics, activists, and researchers along with insightful interviews. It applies deeply studied historical, legal, political and sociological lenses to draw the link between policing and violence, and calls for urgent intervention, accountability and reform.

To be sure, issues such as custodial violence, militarized policing, and encounter killings have routinely been brought into the public discourse by various actors. The Supreme Court has issued several guidelines for reform, but as the book notes, little has changed. A few weeks ago, an internationally acclaimed film