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Forgery-accused youth faces severe torture in custody

Published on May 07 2012 // Politics

Nepal police have severely tortured a refugee youth who is apprehended for his alleged involvement in obtaining Nepali citizenship and Machine Readable Passport (MRP) illegally, revealed his family sources and the Center for Victims of Torture (CVICT).

The family sources of one "J. Subba, in his 20s," disclosed on Saturday that security personnel tried various forms of physical techniques to torture him in police custody. Citing the nature and sensitivity of the news, BNS can neither mention the full name of Subba nor can it publish his image.

According to a petition circulated by the Punya Foundation, Subba was inflicted with severe forms of tortures, including the technique of hooding. Following an alert, a team including legal expert from the CVICT visited Subba in police custody last week, it is learnt.

"CVICT lawyer reports Subba as saying that police in civil dresses slapped him on his face 10-12 times. Further, Subba was randomly beaten with a baton and kicked. He is subjected to falanga-torture, as a consequence of which, he has difficulty to walk," stated the petition.

The Foundation further stated that Subba has multiple scars in his body. "Owing to pain, he cannot sleep. Subba has been threatened of fourth round of interrogation. He fears his life," added the Foundation.

It is reportedly learnt that Subba, who was arrested from the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) two-weeks ago while he was about to fly to United States through the third resettlement program, is still under police investigation on document forgery at Metropolitan Police Range of Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu.

Whether Subba has an involvement in resettlement fraud, whether he worked in coordination with other fellow Bhutanese or Nepalese officials, as reported by national dailies in Kathmandu, is yet to be known.

"I could not tolerate torture and have accepted all the allegations put on me, reported CVICT as Subba saying," added the petition.

Despite repeated attempts, BNS could not verify many of these facts independently.