National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Palamau district magistrate (deputy commissioner) to submit the report on payment of compensation to a Dalit rape victim by May 25.

Palamau deputy commissioner (DC) Shashi Ranjan has also drawn flak from the NHRC in its directive issued on Sunday over delay in filing the report even after its directive, issued on February 18 this year, seeking report with regards to payment of compensation to the victim in terms of the provision of SC/ST Act within four weeks.

“The Commission has perused the record and observes that no such report has been received from District Magistrate, Palamau, Jharkhand so far. The Commission takes a serious view of the non responsive attitude of the concerned authority and directs the registry to issue a reminder to the District Magistrate, Palamau, Jharkhand and Superintendent of Police, Palamau, Jharkhand to submit the report with regard to payment of compensation to the victim in terms of the provisions of SC/ST Act within four weeks (May 25), failing which the Commission would be constrained to invoke provision U/sec. 13 PHR (Protection of Human Rights) Act, 1993,” states the NHRC letter.

Section 13 of the PHR Act gives powers to the commission relating to inquiries and the commission shall, while inquiring into complaints under this Act, have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath.

Jharkhand chapter of human rights outfit People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) had approached the NHRC on the issue alleging unsatisfactory investigation into a gang rape case and harassment of a Dalit woman. Acting on the PUCL’s complaint, the NHRC had sent the directive to Palamau DC on February 18.

“The victim has been constantly harassed by the investigating officer (IO) and the SC/ST police station in-charge of Palamau by not conducting the investigation as per the law in a serious case of gang rape, resulting in direct or indirect benefit to the accused persons. The victim, a pregnant woman, has clearly stated in her FIR that she was gang raped by accused Abhishek Kumar Chandravanshi and Dilip Kumar Chandravanshi in a brutal manner on August 4 last year,” alleged Arvind Avinash, a senior functionary of PUCL Jharkhand who has been spearheading the case.

“Once we took up the issue with the senior police officials, the police added section 376 D of the IPC which deals with allegations of gang rape and arrested one of the accused Abhishek Kumar Chandravanshi. The name of the other accused name is yet to be added in the investigation report. We have filed a writ petition in the high court last year,” said Arvind Avinash.

“We had filed a case in the court of Justice S. K. Dwiwedi in the Jharkhand High Court in November last year and the first hearing was on January 27, 2022 in which the SP Palamau was directed to submit a report in the case. The SP has already submitted the report and we are waiting for the next hearing in the high court. We had sought the high court intervention in transferring the case from Palamau SC/ST police station to CID or any other police station,” said Shailesh Poddar, the high court advocate who has taken up the case on behalf of PUCL.

Dad ‘drowns’ son

Chaibasa: A three-week-old infant was on Monday allegedly drowned by his father in a water-filled utensil in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, a police officer said.

In a fit of rage after an altercation with wife, the man picked up the baby boy and drowned him in the cauldron, he added. The father fled the scene after the incident. PTI