NHRC issues notice to Bihar govt over 'delayed police action' in sexual assault of minor

New Delhi [India], March 26 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent a notice to the government of Bihar over reports on the alleged delay in police action in the sexual assault of a minor girl in Darbhanga.
According to an official release, the Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Government of Bihar, calling for a detailed report within six weeks. It should also include the status of the investigation conducted into the matter. The response from the authorities is expected at the earliest but not later than 6 weeks.
The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of a media report that in Bihar's Darbhanga, the police failed to know till the death of a 13-year-old rape victim that her parents and the village Panchayat tried to settle the case by asking her tormentor to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to the family, the release mentioned.
Reportedly, after receiving the amount, the victim's family sent her to the house of the accused, saying nobody would marry her. She stayed with the accused for 5 days before being thrown out. Subsequently, she was sent to her elder sister's house by her parents, where she died 16 days later. As per reports, the assault happened on March 1, 2024.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to the violation of the human rights of the victim girl, as stated in the release.
According to the media report, on March 19, 2024, the victim was sexually assaulted by a man from the same village when she had gone to graze the cattle in the area coming under the jurisdiction of Vazidpur Police Station in Darbhanga district.
Reportedly, the victim was not provided with any medical treatment. The police exhumed the body of the victim and sent it for a post-mortem examination.