Jharkhand HC directs Centre, state to formulate SOP for accessing Aadhaar card details by police
Ranchi (PTI): The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday directed the central and state governments to formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) with regard to tracing Aadhaar card details of victims.
A bench comprising Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai was hearing a petition filed by a woman, Chandramuni Urain, whose minor daughter has been missing since 2019 from Gumla.
The court was informed that the police had applied for tracing the Aadhaar card details of the minor victim, and the application has been pending for quite some time.
The court observed that this is a long process and will hamper the investigation of cases.
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Hence, a mechanism needs to be developed where tracing of the Aadhaar card required by the police becomes faster, the high court observed.
In cases of children, being victims of human trafficking, not all matters are reported to the police, and an SOP will be required for immediate intervention by the police to trace the whereabouts of victims, the bench said.
The court on Wednesday ordered the petitioner to make the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) director a party in the case.
The court was also informed that the police had registered an FIR on February 11 for the alleged assault made on Chandramuni Urain by villagers earlier this month under suspicion of practising witchcraft.
On directions of the High Court, a team of Jharkhand Legal Services Authority also presented a report on action taken after Chandramuni was assaulted in the village.
The case will again be heard on February 25.
The high court on Wednesday had slammed the Gumla superintendent of police for not taking action against those who assaulted Urain, branding her a witch.
Urain had moved the court to trace her missing daughter. She was six years old when she disappeared in 2019.
During the hearing, she had submitted that she was also assaulted by her co-villagers who branded her as a witch in the same year, but the police did not take action.
The police, on the other hand, said that the woman was not willing to lodge a formal complaint about the assault.
Urain had lodged a complaint in 2019 after her daughter went missing from the village.
However, since no significant action was taken by the police to recover her daughter, Urain filed a petition for habeas corpus before the high court on September 4, 2025, suspecting that her daughter is a victim of human trafficking.
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Delhi: Father, son held for killing 19-year-old woman in suspected honour killing
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a man and his son for allegedly murdering his 19-year-old daughter in west Delhi's Hari Nagar area, an official said on Friday.
The case first came to light on April 1 after a PCR call was received around 2 pm, alleging that a woman had been killed by her family members and her body was being taken for last rites, he said.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Maneer (55), a vegetable vendor, and his son Meraj Ali (19), were arrested in connection with the case, the officer said.
The victim had been in a relationship with a man from her native place for the past two years, which was opposed by her father, Maneer and brother Meraj, he said.
"When the girl did not end the relationship despite objections, the family killed her," the officer said.
On April 1, the police said that when their team reached the spot, they found that the woman's body was being taken for burial.
Acting on the input, the burial process was stopped over suspicion of honour killing.
"Police intercepted the family members and took possession of the body," he said.
Police said that the man who had made the PCR told them that the woman was in love with his cousin.
During the inquiry, police also interacted with the PCR caller, who said his cousin, a friend of the deceased, had informed him about the situation and suspected foul play, prompting him to alert the police control room.
The body of the woman was subsequently shifted to the mortuary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for preservation and postmortem.
Police said that both the crime team and the forensic science laboratory (FSL) team were called to inspect the scene and collect evidence.
Police said that, as per the postmortem report, the cause of death was identified as smothering, indicating that the woman was suffocated.
A preliminary inquiry also revealed that the family had initiated preparations for the last rites soon after the woman's death, raising suspicion about the circumstances.
Initial investigation pointed to the family's opposition to the woman's relationship.
"The family members of the woman saw her with the man, and she was taken back home. We got to know that she was beaten up and even locked inside the house for some days," a source said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police added.
