By Rifah Luqman

Rudra, a student of Zakir Hussain College of Delhi University has been reported missing after a series of allegedly illegal detentions and torture of seven other activists by the Special Branch of Delhi Police.

Rudra, aged 20, reportedly boarded the Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express from Kolkata on the morning of July 18. At 7:40 am, he contacted his friend stating that he had reached New Delhi Railway Station. Since then, no information about his whereabouts has reached his concerned friends, comrades, and family.

The recent series of detentions has led Rudra’s loved ones to suspect that he has been taken into custody by the police just like the seven others, who turned out to be in police custody after days of being missing. Reports from several human rights sources also claim illegal third-degree torture methods were used against the detained activists, including dunking their heads into toilet bowls, stripping them naked, and giving them electric shocks.

“While in custody, the activists were subjected to torture that directly violates the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. They were stripped naked, beaten, electrocuted, and subjected to degrading treatment including having their heads submerged in toilet bowls. The police also issued horrific threats of sexual violence, particularly against female activists, who were told they would be raped using rods—a tactic of intimidation that constitutes sexual torture under both Indian law and international conventions,” a statement by the organisation Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) said.

Friends of Rudra have reached out to Maktoob, in a darkened state of mind after hearing reports of the horrors faced by other activists at the hands of the police, fearing that the same is happening to Rudra in real time. The other activists, now released, are in a state of shock, according to them.

“Rudra is a very bright student and a diligent activist who has the best interests of people at heart. After hearing what happened to the others who were detained… being dunked into toilet bowls, threats of sexual assault… we are very scared the same is happening to him right now. What has been happening is an unprecedented attack on resisting voices, and a direct fascistic attack on democracy,” his friends told Maktoob.

This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.