The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh asking them to submit two separate detailed reports in connection with the treatment of the Hapur gang rape victim.
The DGP has been directed to inform the Commission in detail about the progress of the investigation and arrest if any. The deadline to file both reports is four weeks.
The woman, a widow from Muradabad, set herself on fire last month after she was gang-raped and sold for Rs 10,000 by her parents and later allegedly turned away by Hapur Police. With more than 80 per cent burns, the victim is struggling for life at AIIMS hospital in Delhi.
The victim has been identified as a resident of a village under Babugarh police jurisdiction in Hapur. She was allegedly gang-raped in 2016. Disgruntled after Babugarh Police allegedly refused to pay heed to her complaints, the woman shifted to Muradabad city out of shame, and set her ablaze last month, the police said.
An FIR was registered against 16 people on Sunday and the matter is being investigated after a video clip of her allegations went viral on social media.
In its notice, the Commission also highlighted the negligence by the police in the case and stated “remissness and the act of negligence on the part of police authorities for not registering the case timely by arresting the accused person has aggravated the distressful plight of the lady, which cannot be tolerated in a civilized society governed by the rule of law.”
It also agreed that the content available in the news report pertaining to the matter if true, amount to gross violation of human rights of the victim woman.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal had also written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday, urging him to ensure the victim gets justice. “DCW is in receipt of a representation from a survivor of gang-raping belonging to Hapur. The survivor has suffered unimaginable harassment at the hands of the UP police in Hapur who have refused to register an FIR despite repeated complaints,” reads the letter dated May 11.
“This insensitivity and shameful conduct of the UP police compelled the survivor to immolate herself. She is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi,” it further stated.
ANI