Judicially sanctioned flogging has taken place in 14 countries. In the 1990s electro-shock equipment was used in prisons and police stations in more than 60 countries. More than 120 companies made, sold, marketed, advertised or procured such equipment. Torture is also commonly committed in everyday life by private individuals - by husbands against their wives, by parents against their children, by teachers against their pupils. Under international law, governments are responsible if they tolerate or fail to provide effective protection against abuses committed by private individuals on others.
Torture persists because perpetrators know they can get away with it.
Police and prison guards do not report torture committed by their colleagues or give evidence against them if, unusually, there is an investigation or prosecution. Investigations are stalled by inaction or the complicity of the investigating body. In many countries, the public and politicians are indifferent to violence on unpopular sections of the community. Angammal and her husband Guruviah were arrested, suspected of receiving stolen property. They were beaten, apparently to extract a confession.