Balrampur marriage case: UP police face NHRC ire

The NHRC has "severely indicted" the Uttar Pradesh police for alleged illegalities committed by its staff in connection with a marriage in Balrampur district in 2014, and asked the state authorities to conduct a detailed probe into the "entire murky episode".
Terming it an "extremely sordid" case, the rights panel said the proceedings resulted in "grave violation of human rights" of the couple, which included "wrongful detention, custodial rape, false implication and delay in initiating criminal proceedings against the accused sub-inspector".
"The National Human Rights Commission has severely indicted the UP Police for illegal proceedings in a case of love marriage resulting in grave violation of human rights of a newly-wed couple in district Balrampur," the NHRC said in a statement today.

Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the government of Uttar Pradesh through its chief secretary to show cause as to why the victim woman, her husband and father-in-law "should not be recommended to be paid Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh respectively, as monetary relief in the case".
The commission had taken cognisance of the case in the past after receiving complaints from human rights activists, an official said.
During the course of an enquiry, the NHRC found that a young man and a girl from Balrampur had eloped and got married in Mumbai. The girl's father then lodged a complaint of kidnapping with the police following which the couple was called to Mathura police post of Balrampur district, it said.

"However, instead of taking a proper legal recourse in the mater both of them were detained in separate cells at the police post from August 12-13, 2014. The sub-inspector subjected the girl to sexual assault," the NHRC said.

The Commission has sought response from the chief secretary in three months and asked the government to further investigate the case.
The case against the accused sub-inspector shall be taken up for further investigation after obtaining necessary permission from the competent court.
The investigation in the case will be entrusted to the state's Crime Branch or CB-CID and shall be conducted by an officer not below the rank of DSP, the NHRC said.

"The state shall obtain legal opinion from the Advocate General, UP, about the maintainability of the charge sheet," it said.
"A detailed fact-finding inquiry into this entire murky episode shall be got conducted by an officer, not below the rank of a DIG to bring out the acts of omission and commission of police officers of various levels of district," the rights panel said.
Suitable action will be initiated against officers whose conduct will be found to be blameworthy, it added.
The Commission also observed that the girl on the date of her alleged kidnapping on May 20, 2014, had "attained the age of 17 years and 9 months, a few months short of attaining age of majority, but had however, attained the 'age of discretion'".

Therefore, she cannot said to have been a victim of inducement particularly when she herself said she had gone with the young man and married him on her "free will", it said.
Therefore, the provisions of section 363 and 366 of the IPC cannot be sustained in the case, it added.
The NHRC said that after detention when the girl complained about sexual assault by the sub-inspector, no action was taken in the matter.
The police continued to pursue the case of underage marriage of the couple despite a city court having held both of them of major age and allowed the girl to live with her husband as per her wish, it said.

"Not only this, the police subsequently charged her husband with rape by adding section 376 to the main case filed and also falsely implicated her father-in-law," the NHRC said.