The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) probe into alleged police brutality against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers who were protesting in New Delhi against non-registration of an FIR in a rape case in June this year.
A bench headed by Justice G. S. Singhvi allowed the plea of an AAP activist who in a PIL had questioned the police investigation and had pleaded for an independent probe in the case.
During the hearing last month, the apex court had expressed concern over the rising crime against women and said they were not safe and were even subjected to molestation while travelling in buses.
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The bench had also watched the video footage of the incident recorded on behalf of the Delhi police to gauge the situation on the ground. It was, however, of the view that the recording was selective and did not contain the footage of lathi charge.
The court had earlier also asked the Delhi government to place before it information on the number of offences committed against women in the national capital every month.
The figures revealed that crime against women had doubled in last five years and showed a rise of 73 per cent this year. The data of offences against women registered till October 15, 2013 and placed before the apex court showed that 1,330 cases of rape have been registered this year.
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