From Custody to Coffin: The Tragic Tale of Newly Wed Abu Siddiq Halder

Kolkata: Twenty-two-year-old Abu Siddiq Halder, a resident of Ghatakkultala, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, had travelled from Karnataka to be by his mother’s side as she underwent surgery. However, this visit to his parents became his last as Abu became a victim of his destiny.

Call it family feud or police brutality, Abu, the only son of his parents, who travelled in search of a better livelihood in Karnataka, died within days of being granted bail. His family claims that the youth succumbed to internal injuries inflicted on him by police when he was arrested as a suspect in a theft case.

Abu, a young man in his early twenties, in the pictures shared by his family looks full of life. He seemed to have a liking for bikes and cars.

“My only son was here to ensure his mother was treated well. But look, we have lost him forever for a crime that he never committed,” wailed his father, Yasin Halder.

According to Abu’s family members, on June 30, some valuable jewellery was stolen from his uncle, Mohsin Halder’s residence. Abu was arrested by the police following the FIR filed by his uncle at the Dholahat police station.

What followed was a nightmare for this young man, who had been married only seven months ago.  

Narrating the torture inflicted by the police, his uncle Sujauddin said, “Three police stood on his chest, while others bashed him up. He was even subjected to electric shock. When Abu was released on bail, we saw that his body was covered with wounds and marks that were proof of the brutality that the boy had to endure when in custody.”

The family claimed that the youth, since his ‘release on bail’ was ailing and had to be rushed to a hospital in Mathurapur, where his condition deteriorated. Following this, he was rushed to Kolkata’s Chittaranjan Medical College. Due to the non-availability of bed, he was taken to Swastik Seva Sadan, where Abu breathed his last.

“The boy had several internal injuries. His kidneys got damaged due to the torture that he had to endure while in police custody,” claimed Sujauddin.

However, when eNewsroom contacted Manas Chatterjee, Inspector-in-Charge of Dholahaat Police Station, where the alleged torture took place, he said, “He was in perfect health when released. We aren’t aware of any torture that he had to endure.”

This is not the only stand-alone case of deaths caused by torture inflicted on the arrestee during police custody in West Bengal.

“We live in a nation where the Prime Minister says offenders can be identified based on their looks and clothes. So, the police officers, who hail from higher castes, have a perception that Muslims commit crimes. So, when a case is filed even before the investigation is complete, they believe that the suspect has committed the crime and hence at times torture them with the sole intention of making them accept the crime that they never committed,” said Khurshid Alam, state secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).

Alam claimed that West Bengal, which is regarded as a ‘haven’ for Muslims, has many from the community languishing in jails for over a decade for petty offences that they might not have even committed. “Lack of representation adds to their agony,” he said.

Alam added, “We will be approaching the governor in this case, asking him to use his constitutional rights to ask the West Bengal government to share the action taken report just like he did in the Dinajpur flogging case.”

Sharp rise in number of lynching cases and custodial deaths has made activists spring into action.
“Number of crimes against Muslims is on the rise in Bengal but the people in power are maintaining silence, so we will meet the governor as well as hold a protest or press conference with the grieving family members soon in Kolkata,” Umar Awais, an activist, told eNewsroom.

He further informed that a delegation will be going to meet the victim’s family..