The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India on Tuesday issued notice to the government of Bihar and the State’s Director General of Police, over the brutal assault of a Scheduled Caste woman.
The Commission issued notice after taking suo motu cognisance of a media report, which said that a 30-year-old Dalit woman was brutally assaulted, stripped and urinated upon in Mosimpur village of Patna on September 23.
As per the media report, the woman was subjected to torture and inhuman treatment after she purportedly failed to repay additional interest on a loan of Rs 1,500, which she had borrowed from a local strongman.
The Commission observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amounted to violation of human rights of the victim.
It said the incident was indicative of the free will with which the perpetrators acted without a fear of law
The rights body sought a detailed report in the matter from both the State Chief Secretary and the Bihar DGP within four weeks.
It said the report should include the status of FIR, physical as well as mental health status of the victim and compensation, if any, granted to her.
As per the Commission, the victim, reportedly belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, was also eligible for the compensation as per provision of Rules framed under the SC/ST (PoA) Act.
It asked the authorities to explain in the report the status of installment of the compensation given to the victim.
It said since the victim had passed through a trauma, it was expected from the state government to intimate whether any counselling has been provided to her.
According to the media report carried on September 25, the accused had approached the victim four days before the incident, coercing her to repay an additional amount as interest and the victim had reported the matter to the police.
It said the accused reportedly belonged to a dominant caste, while there were only a few Scheduled Caste families residing in the village, who have stated that they were living in fear and were thinking of leaving the place for some days.