The civil rights situation continued to remain precarious here as activists alleged that the police and the State administration have been consistently violating the Supreme Court order regarding the safe passage to Delhi of one of the alleged victims of Operation Green Hunt.
The victim, Sodi Sambo (28), of the Goompad village of Dantewada district, is a key witness of the October 1st “killings” when nine people were shot dead, allegedly by security forces.
Suffering from a bullet wound to her leg, Sodi is currently being kept under a tight police watch at the Jagdalpur Maharani hospital. The Supreme Court on Thursday, passed an order, saying that the woman was free to travel to Delhi for her treatment and the police, the administration and the State should create no obstacles or not interfere in any way in her passage to Delhi.
“She needs to be taken to Delhi for treatment or her leg will have to be amputated. It's a serious matter but the police are not allowing anybody to meet her even after the SC order,” said Kavita Shrivastava of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
According to civil rights activists gathered here from across the country, Sodi's constitutional rights have been impinged upon by the police and the administration. Nobody is being allowed access to her and she is being kept under vigil against her will, they alleged.
“She is not under any vigil and her parents and husband have come to take her and she will be taken to Delhi,” said Dantewada SP Ambreesh Mishra. “There was no need for the SC order. The State was never creating any obstacles in her treatment,” he said.
However, Sodi's lawyer Collien Gonsalvez rubbished the police and administration's contention.
“She is an adult and I am her lawyer and yet every time I go to meet her, I am stopped outside and told by a police man that she does not want to go to Delhi or meet anyone,” says Mr. Gonsalvez.
“We had earlier taken her to Delhi and she was treated by Dr. Matthew Verghese, one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in the country and now the police are saying she doesn't want to go. How are we to believe them?” he asks.
“When I called up the Chief Secretary to ask him to intervene to get the SC order implemented, he said he did not want to talk to me or meet me. This indicates that the State is indeed trying to delay the process,” said Ms. Shrivastava.
