Gopalganj police brutality mirrors reality in wider society
The case of a farmer killed following police contact in Gopalganj last week is but the latest in a long history of police brutality in Bangladesh. On Monday, Police Headquarters issued a statement saying that initial investigations have found ASI Shamim Hasan of Kotalipara Police Station guilty in connection with the death of 32-year-old Nikhil Talukdar, who succumbed to injuries sustained during an assault by the accused at a hospital in Dhaka. We are told that a murder case has already been filed, with ASI Shamim as prime accused, and he and another person were also arrested and produced before the court. We commend the swiftness with which police authorities have responded to the allegation of a death from excessive force by one of their own—for reasons still to be determined by a court of law—but this is hardly reassuring, given how few cases of police brutality end up in convictions in Bangladesh.
The impunity enjoyed by the police in this country is well-documented. Except for a few exceptions, the instances of a guilty police officer being successfully prosecuted for excessive force or extrajudicial killing or custodial deaths are rare. This year alone, even during the lockdown period, there have been a number of cases of police violence. According to a report prepared by seven eminent citizens and released in mid-April, at least 44 people were victims of extrajudicial killings between March 1 and April 10. Last year, between January and October, some 437 people fell victim to extrajudicial killings across the country, according to a report by Ain O Salish Kendra. Protests over such deaths are usually met with silence from the government or protestations of innocence that are far from being credulous. In reality, the only possible explanation for such high numbers of incidents is a lack of accountability within the police force, which creates an impression that they are above the law, which they're not. This is also the reason for the near-complete lack of public trust in police and, by extension, the criminal justice system.
The government must bring an end to this culture of impunity by bringing those responsible to justice. The focus here is on "justice"—not on the tired theatrics of probe committees and "initial" investigations leading, almost always, to nowhere. For too long, the authorities have ignored calls for reforms in policing to make it pro-people, as well as for strictly enforcing related laws and guidelines, including the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013, to establish accountability within the police force. This must end. Guilty officers, including the accused in the Gopalganj case, must face justice for their abuse of power.
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