The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has given a dressing down to the State police for making detainees in lock-up strip down to their underclothes.

Acting on a complaint, Commission Chairperson JB Koshy gave a general direction to the State Police Chief to ensure that detainees are allowed to wear proper clothing while in lock-up.

This had come in response to a complaint from a public interest litigant who alleged that the police often stripped male suspects of their clothes in custody.

The latter had to cover themselves with no more than their underclothes – in some cases even newspapers pinned together into place.

This was demeaning, especially in lock-ups where women worked as law-enforcers, the litigant argued.

The police version was that they were merely being overcautious to rule out the possibility of suspects using ‘larger pieces of wearables’ for hanging themselves while in custody.

But the Chairperson said the premise that a male detainee could use his clothes to hang himself by evading the eyes of officers did not stand to reason.

In any case, this was no ground to deny a man his dignity by stripping him while in custody.

The Commission warned that law-enforcers found guilty of adopting such inhuman practices would face severe punishment.

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