Stealing petrol costs youth his life

The documentary film 'Injustice' by Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood has recently got a lot of attention in India. It was screened last week in an international film festival in Kerala. The film is about police brutality and custodial deaths. To quote Ken Fero: "About a 1,000 people had been killed in police custody in Britain in the 1990s and hardly anyone has been punished in connection with those custodial murders. Also, the reports of such custodial torture and murders did not get adequate public attention because of the close relationship between the media and the police." I believe this is the case in almost all the countries. Certainly the situation in India in this regard is grim.

I have not seen this film, but I thought about it, as a death in police custody took place near my house yesterday. A 23 year old youth was beaten to death by police for stealing petrol from a parked car. Two newspapers, The Indian Express and The Times of India, have reported the incident. Perhaps they were forced to report the incident, as hundreds marched to the local police station demanding action against the culprits.