NHRC takes suo motu cognisance of Encounter Killing of accused in Telangana rape and murder case

The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of the reported encounter killing of the four men accused of the rape and murder of veterinary doctor, ‘Disha’  by the Telangana Police.

It is reported that all the four accused persons were taken to the scene of the crime around 60 Km from Hyderabad “for a re-construction as part of the investigation“. According to the police personnel, one of them signaled to the others, possibly to escape and they further tried to snatch weapons from the police. At this point, the police fired at the accused persons, leading to their death. The encounter killing which took place in the early hours of Friday has drawn mixed opinions from the public.

A press release issued by the NHRC intimates that the Commission is of the opinion that the matter has to be looked into very carefully, as the death of four persons occurred while they were in police custody. This is “a matter of concern for the Commission“, the release states. It adds,

“The Commission is of the opinion that this matter is required to be probed very carefully. Accordingly, it has asked its Director General (Investigation) to immediately send a team for a fact finding on the spot investigation into the matter. The team of the Investigation Division of the Commission headed by an SSP, is expected to leave immediately and submit their report, at the earliest.”

The Commission has taken serious note of the fact the arrested persons were only accused of the gruesome crime and not yet been convicted by a competent court. The NHRC release has further emphasised that if the accused were found guilty, they were to be punished as per the existing law in furtherance to the directions of the court. The Commission goes on to opine that the encounter killing would give a wrong message to society.

“The Commission is aware that growing incidents of sexual assault and violence against the women has created an atmosphere of fear and anger amongst the public at large but loss of human lives even of a person arrested by the police under law, in such circumstances, would definitely give a wrong message to the society.“

The release also makes a reference to the lack of a “Standard Operating Procedure” to immediately respond to the panic situations by the police authorities.