The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the Tamil Nadu Government and the Director-General of Police seeking a detailed report within four weeks on the alleged illegal detention of a 17-year-old boy belonging to the Kurava community and two of his relatives in connection with the burglary.
A NHRC release here on Tuesday said that recently the Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi had tweeted “‘Ex-Criminal Tribes are known to be very cruel. They are hardcore professionals in committing crimes. Rarely caught and/or convicted”.
Soon after this tweet, a Kurava boy in a first person account to a newspaper narrated his ordeal with the police on account of his community being treated in the past as a Criminal Tribe.
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“The alleged illegal detention and torture (took place) purportedly on the ground that they (the boy and his relatives) belonged to a tribe dubbed by British Raj as criminals under Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. The commission noted that the law may be defunct now, but presumably the mindsets remain unchanged,” the release said.
Violation
The release stated that the report suggested that there was a violation of human right to life, liberty, and dignity.
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Therefore, the NHRC called for a detailed report on the incident.
Commission seeks a detailed report within four weeks on the alleged illegal detention of the 17-year-old boy