Malik was pronounced dead at DDU hospital on February 14, 2022. The police authorities say Malik died due to illness, but the family cited bruise marks and broken bones on Malik’s body as proof of custodial murder in Tihar Jail.On February 17, 2022, the family was handed over the body after the postmortem. Back at home, as ablution was being performed on the body before burial, the family members said they saw that Malik’s bones had been broken at several places, including ribs and elbows etc. Before the burial the family took pictures of the body to have a record of the injuries.When the fact-finding team of Janhastakshep enquired whether the statutory guidelines regarding ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ (SOP) issued by NHRC have been followed in the case of custodial death of Malik, it raised more questions than answers.When the Janhastakshep team met the Director General of Prison Services, Sandeep Goyal, he claimed he did not have any knowledge regarding the matter and directed them to speak with Hukum Chand, the superintendent of Central Jail 5 (where Malik had been lodged). Chand refused to speak to the team.When the team approached the DG’s office again on February 22, 2022, they were directed to Zorawar Singh, the law officer of the jail. When the team asked Singh if an inquest had been instituted into Malik’s death, he evaded the question. Instead, he replied that Malik was a drug addict, and he suffered from some medical condition which led to lowering of platelet count in his blood. As a result of this, he had profuse internal bleeding in the body leading to his death.
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