Purpose, method, drugs used and health risks of the Narco test

Abstract

Even in print and electronic media, the murder of a girl in Mehroli, Delhi that took place in May 2022 is being covered as leading news. These days, everyone seems to be talking about the incident. Now that the accused person is in police custody, the judge has granted authorization for the police to conduct a Narco test on him in order to uncover the truth and gather evidence. There are now three contemporary methods for discovering the truth. These include the polygraph test, brain mapping and Narco test. The first two don't need any kind of medication, but the third one does, and they have to inject it into the suspect's body. In the Narco test, psychoactive medications such sodium pentothal, scopolamine, and sodium amytal are injected into the subject in order to cause them to experience hypnosis or become sleepy. Under these circumstances, it is highly assumed that the subject will only speak the truth and nothing else throughout the interrogation. Because of this, the test is also referred to as the truth serum test. Although this test is highly helpful in questioning to solve criminal cases, we cannot ignore the bad consequences of the drugs employed and the negative features of the test on both physical and mental health. The court acknowledged that it was illegal and a violation of the right to privacy. In this article, we discuss the necessity of conducting a Narcoanalysis test, as well as its requirements, the procedure to follow in order to carry it out, the potentially harmful effects of the drugs that are used, as well as the potentially harmful effects of the test itself on one's health and some popular Indian criminal cases that are related to Narco testing.