Author:

Dipyaman Ray Chowdhury

Research Scholar
Department of History
Vidyasagar University
Midnapore,West Bengal,India

Email: dipray1711@gmail.com

Abstract: This research paper investigates the practice of police torture in the 19th century colonial Bengal. This study reveals systematic methods employed by police officials to extract confessions from the persons who were suspected to have committed crimes. This article focuses on some notable incidents of police torture like the brutal treatment of Ramdurlabh Roy, the abuse and death of Kartik Podder, and the prolonged torture of Munshi Sheikh illustrate that abusive techniques were used to intimidate and coerce suspects. The analysis exposes how administrative indifference and judicial impunity, reinforced by class biases and corruption, enabled these abuses to persist even when prominent evidences of malpractices had been found. Apart from that, this article argues that coercive police practices were sustained for upholding colonial power structures.

Key Words:Bengal,Coercion, Colonial, Governance, Police, Torture, Violence etc.