45% back 3rd degree police torture: Survey

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 9

A survey by the Karnal range police has revealed that 45.1 per cent persons justified third degree method by the police to extract truth, while 25.9 per cent people said it should be avoided and 29.1 per cent are not sure.

Karnal range IGP Bharti Arora got the survey conducted online with the help of three first-year students of IIT-Delhi — Gopika Arora, Ashi Chkresh Jain and Jatin Aggarwal — who involved 1,176 persons from Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat and other districts of the state.

"The purpose was to gather feedback about police functioning from people of Karnal range involving three districts — Karnal, Kaithal and Panipat — but people from other districts also participated enthusiastically," Arora said.

From Karnal, 47.3 per cent persons participated in the survey, while 25.5 per cent are from Kaithal, 10.1 per cent from Panipat and 17.1 per cent from other districts. As many as 72.8 per cent are male, while 27.2 per cent are female.

Half of the participants are in the age group of 30-50, while 37.4 per cent age from 18 to 30.

The survey revealed that 39.9 per cent people are very comfortable in approaching the police, while 27.4 per cent are comfortable, 9.4 per cent uncomfortable, and 6.9 per cent are very uncomfortable. As many as 16.4 per cent have no opinion on the issue.

The survey further revealed that 28.7 per cent feel intimidated by the police, while 55.3 per cent do not feel so and 16 per cent are not sure.

More than half (52.3 per cent) of the people preferred to call the police in an emergency, while 39.5 per cent responded that it depends on the situation. In response to a question, 18.2 per cent experienced the response of PCR number 100 very slow than expected, while 29.3 per cent experienced faster than expected.

The survey further said 52.4 per cent got police clearance certificate and character certificate on time, while 4.1 per cent had to wait too long and 39 per cent never applied. 38.3 per cent have not come in contact with a member of the police force in the last three-years, 35.6 per cent considered that they were treated with professionalism, dignity and respect, while 10.2 per cent disagreed with it and 7.3 per cent strongly disagreed. 34 per cent were not satisfied with women helpline number 1091, while 27.2 per cent were satisfied. 70.9 per cent considered the police were overburdened, while 14.7 did not think like that.

As many as 366 persons faced verbal abuse by the police, while around 30 persons faced physical abuse, and around 190 faced bribery demand.

"The survey has given feedback about the working of the police. We will try to overcome the issues to improve the police functioning," the IGP added.

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