IFFERING only in a few particulars, suspicious custodial deaths continue to occur in a sickening, never-ending loop. Three cases have again surfaced of individuals dying during their detention by police the Punjab force in all these instances. In Rahim Yar Khan, a man suspected of theft died on Sunday allegedly as a result of custodial torture. Three cops have been booked for murder. Yet another death allegedly on the same grounds occurred on Sunday in Lahore when one of nine men, found detained a few days ago in a secret torture cell, succumbed to the terrible injuries he had sustained during his `interrogation`.

Several policemen have been booked for murder. Then on Monday, yet another unfortunate man died in similar circumstances; an FIR has been filed against six cops. That these deaths occurred despite the IG Punjab having issued express instructions against custodial torture, and conducted surprise visits to some police stations to gauge the situation there, speaks to a much deeper malaise.

Changing mindsets rooted in custom and/or privilege can be exceedingly difficult, even when backed by the law. Custodial torture is one of the many ways this challenge is starkly illustrated in Pakistan. Punjab police is governed by the Police Order, 2002 (amended in 2013), which stipulates up to five years` imprisonment for officers found guilty of inflicting `torture and violence to any person` in their custody. Earlier, the provincial law-enforcement agency worked under the Police Act, 1861. This was a colonial relic, designed to bring the `natives` to heel; consider that it includes the word `torture` only in the context of enabling an officer to arrest anyone inflicting cruelty on an animal. Nevertheless, despite a more modern law, the old ways continue and torture remains the primary tool of investigation. This is partly because accountability mechanisms stipulated in the 2002 legislation have not yet been established; and continued political interference reinforces the culture of impunity, precluding the Punjab police from evolving into a more neutral, democratic force. A year-long National Commission for Human Rights inquiry found that government authorities themselves documented at least 1,424 cases of torture by the police between 2006 and 2012 in Faisalabad district alone. The Punjab law minister in January disclosed that the government is considering changes in the police act to make it more `people-friendly`. One substantial step towards this objective would be to punish, as per the law, any cop guilty of torturing people in his custody.