NHRC notice to K'taka govt over 'evil practice' of banishing new mothers to isolated huts
New Delhi, Jun 5: The NHRC has issued a notice to the Karnataka government over a report alleging banishing of new mothers and menstruating women to distant and isolated huts in Bisadihalli area of Tumakuru district.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the National Human Rights Commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of the human rights of innocent women and young babies.
The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a 19-year-old woman, who underwent a caesarean operation, was banished to a distant and isolated hut, as per the tradition for new mothers and menstruating women in Bisadihalli area of Tumakuru district. The hut did not have a bed or toilet, the statement said.
"Reportedly, this practice still persists even today in rural areas of several states and in Karnataka among the people belonging to the Kadu Golla community. During this stay, the women and the newborn children are exposed not only to the vagaries of nature but also to the grave risks posed by the unhygienic conditions and the street dogs, scorpions and snakes which enter these huts," it said.
Accordingly, the NHRC has issued a notice to the chief secretary, government of Karnataka, seeking a detailed report within four weeks. The report should include data reflecting the places where such "evil practices are still prevalent" in the state and details of the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the government authorities to deal with the subject, it said.
Issuing the notice, the human rights body also said that in 2013, it had received a complaint raising a similar grievance concerning women belonging to Scheduled Tribes in Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra. The state government of Maharashtra had submitted a comprehensive report elaborating that it was making sincere efforts to eradicate this inhuman practice of 'Gaokor/Kurma', it added.
According to the media report, carried on May 27, the young people do not want to continue with this practice but the elders are supporting it and justifying that the huts provide much better conditions to the women and babies than their own houses. Though the government agencies conduct inspections in the village regularly, they were "not successful in putting an end to this practice", the NHRC statement said.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
