Waking up to the heinous offence of ostracising of people in villages of Maharashtra, the State Human Rights Commission has directed the government to conduct a thorough study into such incidents. The commission's order has come on the case of a young woman, who was assaulted, stripped in public, molested and then declared an outcast by a group of men to settle political vendetta in Khajani village of district Raigad in December 2013.
The commission noted that while the local police did act against the accused for charges of stripping and molestation, no action was taken against them for 'outcasting'. The commission has also asked the state to give a compensation of Rs50,000 to the aggrieved woman.
"Outcasting and excommunication of a person in the society is one of the heinous crime violating the human rights of that person. Added to that stripping a woman in public and humiliating her is another serious violation of human rights. Though such inhuman acts are either overlooked or ignored even temporarily on the ground of illiteracy and communal or personal laws of the particular community, it is high time that the state machinery takes up serious note of such incidents which are growing in our society," said Justice S R Bannurmath, chairperson of the Commission in an order passed recently.
The commission has also directed the state machinery to educate leaders of various communities and religious heads in respect of the violation of human rights by way of excommunication or ostracizing a person or a family in villages.
The commission had taken suo moto cognizance of the case following a newspaper report. As per the case, on December 23, 2013, the victim along with her relatives was not only assaulted by the accused persons to settle political vendetta, but they also outraged her modesty by stripping her naked in the public.
As per the report filed by the local police, 28 people were found involved in the case and all of them were arrested. The case is now pending before the local court for trial.
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