India faces human rights issues of arbitrary killings, torture in police custody: US report

Arbitrary killings, forced disappearance and torture in police custody are some of the human rights issues in India, the US said in a report on Wednesday, noting that instances of censorship, use of libel laws to prosecute social media speech and and site blocking continued during 2018.

In its India section of 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018', the State Department said the Indian government imposed restrictions on foreign funding of some non-governmental organisations, including those with views the government stated were not in the "national interest".

"Human rights issues (in India) included reports of arbitrary killings; forced disappearance; torture; rape in police custody; arbitrary arrest and detention; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; and reports of political prisoners in certain states," the report stated.

The other major issues of human rights violations included widespread corruption, lack of criminal investigations or accountability for ...