New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report in which a Class-XI student, belonging to the Scheduled Caste, was assaulted by upper caste boys in a bus in Tamil Nadu.
The Commission has also sought a report from the state government and police within four weeks.
In the incident, which took place in Thoothukudi district, the student was dragged out of the bus by the perpetrators and assaulted with a sickle, severing his fingers from his hand.
According to a media report, published on March 12, the father of the victim who reportedly tried to intervene was also assaulted. The incident took place when the victim was travelling to appear for his exam.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of the violation of the human rights of the victim.
It issued notices to the Director General of Police, and the District Collector, Thoothukudi, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.
According to the media report, the perpetrators managed to escape, and the boy was rushed to a hospital from where he was admitted to the Tirunelveli Government Hospital.
After a seven-hour-long surgery, a team of doctors managed to re-attach the fingers of the boy, it said.
The rights panel also took suo motu cognisance of another media report where a retired Sub-Inspector of Police was murdered in broad daylight in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu by a group of four people.
Calling for a report from the Director General of Police and the District Collector, Tirunelveli, on the incident within four weeks, the NHRC said that it involved an issue of the human rights of the victim.
Reportedly, the victim was an activist fighting legal cases against the encroachment of Waqf land in the area and had been receiving death threats from some people. He had also alleged that the police were not taking proper action against them as it was hand-in-glove with them.
According to the media report, carried on March 19, 2025, the family of the deceased alleged that police inaction and gross negligence led to his murder.
(IANS)
