NHRC team visits Sandeshkhali, talks to villagers

KOLKATA: Ateam of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday went to the restive Sandeshkhali and spoke to villagers who accused local TMC leaders of sexual atrocities on women there.

The team constituted NHRC member Vijaya Bharathi Sayani and five officials of the rights body.

The team visited some villages, including Patrapara and Natunpara in the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali, situated about 100 kilometers from Kolkata.

The NHRC team members spoke to the villagers and noted their statements.

They also visited the Sandeshkhali police station and spoke to the officials there, a source said.

Several villagers at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district have accused Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of alleged land-grab and sexual assault.

The NHRC had earlier said in a statement that the team would be led by a member of the NHRC and assisted by officers of the rights panel to ascertain facts by holding an on-spot inquiry into the allegations of violation of human rights in the restive area.

The team reached Sandeshkhali via Dhamakhali ferry ghat in the morning, after crossing river Kalagachi by boat.

The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of print and electronic media reports that in Sandeshkhali, innocent and impoverished women have allegedly been harassed and sexually assaulted. The rights panel said it has issued notices to the chief secretary and director general of police of West Bengal seeking reports within four weeks about violence that allegedly took place, as reported in the media, in Sandeshkhali.

It also sought reports on action taken or proposed to be taken against the perpetrators of the crime, safety and other ameliorative measures taken or proposed to be taken to inspire confidence among the local people and if any compensation was paid to the victims of violence.