POLICE BRUTALITY DURING COVID-19 IN INDIA: A HUMAN RIGHT CONCERN
Human rights violation by police officers is making the onerous process of law enforcement more difficult than ever. Assault on human dignity is inevitable when the law-enforcer becomes the law-breaker. It is also a stroke on law itself as unrestricted police violence hinders effective policing. The attitude of the police officers during lockdown reflects the disjunction and predicament in their job. The dilemma is that on the one side, police officers are expected to stringently handle criminals by the general public, while on the other side, public want police officers to respect and safeguard the human dignity of suspected criminals. Custodial deaths and police brutality is an age old issue in India. Time and again it has been seen that there has been a steady increase in such instances. Covid-19 induced lockdown gave one more chance to the police officers to misuse their powers. Inappropriate guidelines also mislead the police officers up to certain extent. This article analyses the plight of the essential service providers, migrant workers and general public in the hands of the police officers during nationwide lockdown. This article further gives a comprehensive overview of the issues faced by police officers during lockdown. Finally the article provides some suggestions on the basis of the findings.
Human rights, Police officers, Police brutality, Covid-19, Lockdown.