Activists slam State Human Rights Commission for delay in taking cases
THRISSUR: The functionaries of an organisation run by RTI and human rights activists here have come out against the State Human Rights Commission alleging inordinate delay in the taking up for hearing accident cases filed by its members. RTI activist P.B. Satheesh, a functionary of ‘Nerkazhcha’ based here says that a complaint against the accident allegedly caused during the vehicle inspection conducted by the Highway Police violating DGP’s circular on August last year which lead to the death of a baby and her mother on NH 47 at Vettikkal in Mannuthy and another one against the delay in providing proper government aid to a family in Kothamangalam which lost four members in a road accident at Kuthiran ghat in May last year are yet to taken up for hearing.
The deceased woman and the child were travelling pillon on the bike of her husband Rasheed Ali, a native of Pazhayannur, when the accident occurred near a spot on the road where the Highway Police was conducting a vehicle check. “In a reply to an RTI query State Public Information Officer and Assistant Commissioner of Police had said last year that there were no such records to prove that such a standing order from the Police Headquarters was followed by the Highway Police while checking vehicles at Mannuthy on 07.08.2015, the day on which the accident occurred,” Satheesh said.
Officials of the commission however are of the stand that the higher officials of the police were conducting an inquiry on the complaint and will come up with a report soon, Satheesh added. On the accident at Kuthiran, the family of K.S. Prathap, an autorickshaw driver who survived the accident, lost two of his young children and two elder women in his family. He was given a compensation of Rs 2 lakh a year after the tragedy. When DC contacted the officers of SHRC, they informed that the delay was due to the post of the member lying vacant for more than five months, and now with the appointment of a new member, matters would be expedited.
