The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued a notice to the Director General of Police (DGP), Andhra Pradesh on the alleged foisting of a theft case against a Dalit domestic help who worked in the Chittoor jail superintendent Venugopal Reddy’s house.
Responding to a complaint lodged by TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah, the NHRC directed the DGP to order an independent inquiry into the ‘violation of the rights of the domestic maid Umamaheswari’ by an IG-level officer. The DGP was also asked to send the IG’s report in four weeks.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Commission observed that “the allegations made in the complaint are serious in nature involving false implication and illegal detention of a woman by a public servant. The case therefore involves grave violation of human rights of the victim and her family”.
On January 4 this year, the TDP leader had written a letter to the NHRC drawing its attention to the “custodial torture by police of Umamaheswari who worked as a maid in the jail official’s house”.
Mr. Ramaiah alleged that the Dalit woman was charged with theft of Rs.2 lakh, missing from Mr. Venugopal Reddy’s house and “harassed by the police who tortured her for two days and forced her to admit the crime she did not commit”.
He alleged that the police torture continued even after the prison official came to know that the money had been taken by somebody else in his house.
