by Our Foreign Desk

SIX black US women died in police or prison custody in July, RT television reported on Thursday, as campaigners against police brutality rallied in Washington.

The Washington DC chapter of Black Lives Matter and members of peace campaign Code Pink delivered a petition of over half a million signatures to the Department of Justice, demanding an investigation into the death of Texan woman Sandra Bland.

Ms Bland died on July 13 after being arrested three days earlier.

Police say she hanged herself with a noose made from a plastic rubbish bag, but her family do not accept this.

Witnesses to the arrest say Ms Bland was assaulted by police officer Brian Encinia.

In addition to Ms Bland, Kindra Chapman of Alabama, Joyce Curnell of South Carolina, Ralkina Jones of Ohio, Alexis McGovern of Missouri and Raynetta Turner of New York all died while in custody last month.

Most of the victims had been arrested for minor offences and had spent no more than two days in prison. All the cases are now under investigation.

Ms Turner, who died on Monday, had been arrested on Saturday for shoplifting and later taken to hospital for “health issues,” Channel 7 television reported.

She was returned to her cell on Sunday and fingerprinted on Monday morning, but was found dead at 2 pm.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Texas branch said that more than 600 people had died in encounters with the police in the US this year. A total of 4,309 inmates died in US prisons in 2012.