New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) The NHRC has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state’s police chief over reports of a village panchayat asking the mother of a rape victim to take Rs 5,000 from the accused and terminate her minor daughter’s pregnancy.
Reportedly, threats were also allegedly given to the aggrieved family at the behest of the miscreants, if they did not adhere to the panchayat’s diktat, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a statement on Friday.
The NHRC said it has “taken suo motu cognisance of a media report, published on June 19, that a village panchayat asked the mother of a minor girl victim of sexual assault to take a sum of Rs 5,000 from her daughter’s tormentors and terminate her pregnancy” in Baghpat district.
The commission has observed that the content of the media report, if true, amount to a grave violation of the victim’s human rights.
Going by the media report, it is indeed painful to note that the village panchayat instead of protecting the minor girl “connived in an unlawful act” with the miscreants belonging to a resourceful section of the society, the statement said.
Accordingly, notices have been issued to the chief secretary and the director general of police of Uttar Pradesh, seeking a detailed report within one week, the NHRC said.
The report should include the status of the FIR and action taken against the guilty along with the victim’s health condition and compensation if any, provided to her by the authorities concerned, it added.
According to the media report, the victim’s family had complained to the police that a person from the same village had, in December 2023, allegedly forcefully entered their house and raped the girl, the statement said.
“When the family tried to complain, life threats were given to the mother, brother and sister of the victim girl,” the commission said.
After this, the accused allegedly raped the girl for five to six times, resulting in her pregnancy. When the victim’s family tried to lodge a police complaint, they were stopped and forced to approach the panchayat, where an offer of Rs 5,000 was reportedly given to the family, it added. PTI KND RPA
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