National Human Rights Commission hears rights violation cases

GUWAHATI: Hearing at least 50 cases of human rights violation of Assam, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday asked the state government to act strictly on cases of severe rights violation. In one such case, where 15 people reportedly died due to starvation at Bhuban Valley Tea Estate in Cachar district in February after the garden was shut down last year, NHRC asked the state government to compensate the victims.

"Of the 15 victims, two were workers and the others were dependents. The commission asked the state government to pay compensations of Rs 2 lakh each to the dead workers' keen and Rs 1 lakh to the dependents' keen," said Jaimini Srivastava, PRO of NHRC. The commission also asked the authorities to check if various rural welfare schemes are actually reaching the beneficiaries and to furnish a report soon.

Hearing another case pertaining to Udalguri district, where a tribal couple was branded as witches and hacked by villagers, NHRC criticized the state government for not acting promptly.

"The state government gave us surprising numbers of witch-hunting cases. It said some 88 women and 40 men have become victims of the disturbing trend. However, the government could not provide any figures on arrests and sentences. The state government is asked to act on a fast track basis and to take exemplary actions to discourage such crimes," added Srivastava.

Replying to a prayer of three women who became victim of an organized sex racket in the state, the commission asked the authorities to pay Rs one lac each to the three within three months. "We got reports that there are organized sex rackets working in the state. The commission asked the police to identify these rackets and take action," he added.


(2012-05-29/indiatimes)