Beyond the third degree: Why India must break cycle of normalised police torture

This article exposes the deep-rooted culture of custodial torture within India’s criminal justice system, as highlighted by the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2025. Despite constitutional bans, torture remains widespread, disproportionately affecting the poor and marginalised. The article links wrongful cases like Abdul Wahid Shaikh’s with systemic failures—slow bail processes, reliance on forced confessions, and lack of accountability (no convictions in 1,107 custodial deaths from 2011–2022). The author urges urgent police reform through evidence-based investigation, human rights training, and ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture. Torture, she argues, represents not policing but a constitutional failure.

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