India's poorly trained and overworked police detain people illegally, torture and kill suspects and refuse to investigate crimes against the politically powerful, a human rights group said Tuesday. The police system of the world's largest democracy needs a major overhaul to raise it to international standards, with large investments needed for training, the recruitment of new personnel and the repeal of outdated laws, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. The newly elected Indian government promised police reform, but previous governments have made similar pledges over the decades and failed to deliver. “India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “It's time for the government to stop talking about reform and fix the system.” The report detailed specific cases of police abuse. In one instance, a man accused of rape died in custody and police then charged the rape victim's family with his murder to cover up their own misconduct. In another, a man said he fainted after being beaten with wooden sticks by police, who then hung him upside down and poured water into his mouth and nose. K.P.S. Gill, a former police chief of Punjab state who has written widely on reform, said the problem was wider than just the police force. With a shortage of judges and many criminal cases delayed for years, the entire criminal justice system needs to be fixed, he said. Police officers spoke of carrying out “encounters,” where they kill a suspect and claim the victim died during a shootout, the report said. It also said that the police often detain people and torture false confessions out of them, and file false charges at the request of local politicians. Overworked police often refuse to open cases filed by the poor, the marginalized and those of lower castes, while they routinely dismiss allegations against politically powerful criminals, the report said. At the same time, police themselves work under terrible conditions that make it difficult to do their jobs effectively. They have little training in conducting investigations and the force is severely undermanned, with only one officer for every 1,037 people, far below the global average of one for every 333. Meanwhile, police faced intense pressure from superiors to quickly solve cases, the report said. “The police count on the public's fear, rather than their cooperation to keep order,” said Naureen Shah, who wrote the report.
