E/CN.4/1994/31 page 58 276. Manzoor Ahmed Ganai, a resident of Wakoora district, Gahderbal, Jammu and Kashmir, was reportedly arrested on 7 January 1993 along with 14 other persons by soldiers from the army 10th Bihar regiment, during a search operation in his village. He was reportedly tortured for 10 days with electric shocks, beaten with sticks and guns and trampled on by soldiers. He was then alleged to have been hung upside down for some 24 hours until he lost consciousness and had the back of his thighs burned with paraffin. 277. On 3 December 1993 the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that Manzoor A. Ganai had been released after questioning and returned to his family on 22 January 1992. On 14 February 1992 he died in hospital. A medical examination had revealed that death was due to renal failure. A complaint had been filed on 28 May 1993 by his father and an investigation was being conducted. 278. Nazeera Jan, was gang raped on 25 May 1993 at her domicile, in front of her children, by soldiers of the Rajput Rifles stationed at Zainakote industrial area situated on the outskirts of Srinagar. 279. Masroof Sultan, a college student from Batamaloo, was taken into custody by the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) on 8 April 1993. He was reportedly beaten by four soldiers, blindfolded and, along with three other young men, taken to a building where four BSF agents tried to force him to admit he was a militant. When he refused he was reportedly hung from a pole by his knees and beaten until his leg was broken. He was subsequently transferred to Papa II, an interrogation centre near Srinagar where he was allegedly given electric shocks. He was finally shot at several times, but survived his injuries. 280. A similar situation seems to prevail in Punjab, where special legislation (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act, TADA) allegedly grants the security forces arbitrary powers to arrest and detain people without ordinary legal safeguards and without charge or trial. Prisoners are held in illegal, unacknowledged detention for weeks and sometimes months, without being brought before a judge. In addition to this, the law provides that confessions made before an officer above the rank of superintendent of police are admissible as evidence. According to the reports, these circumstances facilitate the occurrence of torture, which is alleged to be practised systematically in police stations, in prisons and in the detention camps used by the paramilitary forces. The individual cases described in the following paragraphs were transmitted to the Government. 281. Gurmit Kaur, from Bham village (Batala), was arrested on 21 April 1989 by police officers of the Kathu Nangal police station, who questioned her about her father’s links with opposition groups. While in police custody, she was reportedly beaten up, hung upside down and gang-raped. She was released without any charges three days later and had to be taken to Dhaliwal hospital. 282. Gurbir Singh, from Ghungrana village in Ludhiana district, was arrested at the end of 1991 and taken into custody by the Ludhiana police who allegedly subjected him to severe beating. After his release from prison he had to stay in hospital for several weeks.