Dalit’s body denied way in Sivaganga: SHRC issues recommendations

CHENNAI: State Human Rights Commission on Thursday recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that common burial ground be established across the State.

The commission further recommended that the conduct of the police always be governed by principles of impartiality and human rights norms, in all situations, especially during conficts between communities and caste, political groups.

“The Government of Tamil Nadu to take suitable departmental action and criminal action against the erring police officials and revenue authorities in preventing the atrocities against people belonging to SC/ST communities,” the commission stated and recommended the government to ensure that imparting regular and effective training to police officers, special public prosecutors and the concerned district administration officers in regard to the implementation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The commission’s recommendations followed its suo motu cognizance of a news report about caste Hindus disallowing the body of a scheduled caste woman to be taken through the common pathway to the funeral ground, following which there was a road roko by the victim’s family.

The incident happened in Sivaganga district December 2020. The body could not be taken through the usual path as it was inundated.

The commission noted that the District Superintendent of police and revenue authorities made the body to be taken in an alternative route created by them, which amounts to human rights violation.

In response, the SP and the revenue authorities submitted that they made the alternative route to prevent communal clashes and submitted that criminal cases were booked against both groups.

After perusing the submissions, the Commission observed that police did not take suitable action to control the protesting caste hindu crowd and allow the affected family to take the body through the common pathyway and forced them to carry the body through a canal.

The commission junked the authorities’ response that their act was to prevent communal clashes and noted that the commission has been receiving several complaints from across the state about similar incidents of people belonging to Adi dravida communities not able to exercise their constitutional rights.

Holding the authorities responsible, the commission directed that the husband of the deceased woman is eligible for a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.