Court refuses to handcuff murder accused, orders counselling

A Delhi court has refused to handcuff and fetter a man accused of murder and has directed the police to provide a psychiatrist to him in Tihar Jail here after he tried to commit suicide.
Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan passed the order while rejecting the request of the investigating officer to handcuff and fetter Sapan Das, who was taken into judicial custody for the charge of murder, to prevent another suicide attempt by him.
The magistrate directed the superintendent of Tihar Jail to provide counselling to Das on a daily basis in the hospital in the jail campus for two weeks.

"The accused (Das) appears to be under severe depression. Keeping him in handcuffs and fetters would be inhuman and would not solve the real problem which is his depression. This problem can only be solved by giving professional counselling to him.
"The Superintendent of the Jail is directed to provide facilities of a senior psychiatrist for counselling him on a daily basis for at least two weeks. The accused be kept at the jail hospital till such time," the magistrate said.
The court also sought the report from the psychiatrist by August 28, the next date of hearing.

A police inspector of Govindpuri Police Station had moved an application seeking permission to handcuff Das, saying that he had suicidal tendency.

The inspector had submitted that Das was arrested on August 3, 2014 from West Bengal and they had obtained a transit remand till August 12.
"Das had attempted to commit suicide on August 7 before he was produced in court. He was taken to AIIMS immediately where he was saved," the application filed by the inspector said.
"The accused has suicidal tendency and there is a possibility of another attempt of suicide by him, hence order for handcuffing and using fetters on accused be passed to prevent another attempt," it said.
While rejecting the application to handcuff him, the court noted Das's statement that he was under severe depression and was falsely implicated by his friends and had denied the role of any police official in compelling him to take such a step.