IANS

New Delhi, Aug 22: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to pay Rs.500,000 to the family of a man who was allegedly "tortured" and electrocuted six years ago by the state police.

The NHRC has also asked the state government to submit within two months a compliance report with proof of payment made to the victim's family.

Mohan Lal of Amritsar was arrested by the police July 1, 2003, from Jammu for his alleged involvement in a burglary case.

"He was tortured during the interrogation following which he died on July 2, 2003, in the Police Line Hospital of Jammu. The first postmortem conducted at Government Medical College Jammu disclosed 16 ante-mortem (fatal) injuries on Mohan Lal's body," the rights body said in a statement.

Lal's relatives then took his body to Amritsar and did a second autopsy which "revealed that there were 41 ante-mortem injuries, including six marks of electric shocks", the statement added.

The commission, which took up the matter on a complaint filed by human rights activist Suhas Chakma, issued notice to the Jammu and Kashmir government.

"The state government failed to submit reply to the notice," the statement said, adding that the commission then recommended that the Jammu and Kashmir government pay monetary relief of Rs.500,000 to the deceased's next of kin.