Narcoanalysis

When it was time for us to discuss the next issue, the media was abuzz with the murder of Arushi Talwar, in NOIDA - police investigations had proceeded in a slip-shod manner, accusations were being hurled around citing first the family as the main culprits and then the home's domestic staff. Finally the prime suspect was whisked off to Bangalore for a spot of narco-analysis.

Bhanu talked to Column 9 about an investigative story that he was working on for The Week magazine on the issue of narco-analysis, examining it from many angles. Column 9 discussed whether narco-analysis was, in a sense, becoming a new form of police torture - suspects being subjected to tests (that are not scientifically rigorous) under severe pressure without their consent. Even if the evidence so obtained was unusable in a court of law, the results are often used to influence public and/or judicial pressure upon the suspects which could then cause them to incriminate themselves.