NHRC sends notice to GDA over police inaction in gangrape case

National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad District Authority for police "inaction" in a case of alleged gang rape of a girl under the influence of village Panchayat.
The Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad calling for reports within four weeks, a statement issued here today said.
The notices were issued after NHRC took suo motu cognizance of a media report stating that Muradnagar village Panchayat in Ghaziabad district was pressurising the family of a class 10 student, who was allegedly gang raped by four youths of her village, not to file a police complaint.

"It ordered that the victim's family beat the culprits five times with shoes as punishment and let them go. Reportedly, the family was also threatened with dire consequences if it refused to obey the orders of the Panchayat," the statement said.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim and her family member. According to the media report, the girl was allegedly kidnapped by four youths of her village when she was returning home from school on September 30.
She was taken to a nearby field and sexually assaulted. Though a complaint was lodged with the police naming all the four accused in the matter, but no FIR was registered by them in connivance with the culprits, the report claimed. Reportedly, the police was also pressurising the family of the victim for a compromise, the statement said.