NHRC notice to K’taka govt over ‘bribes’ taken from dead woman’s father
New Delhi: The NHRC has sought a report within two weeks from the Karnataka government and state police chief over the alleged collection of bribes from a grieving 64-year-old father of a woman who died after a brain haemorrhage, an official said on Tuesday.
The alleged harassment of the man started after the death of his daughter, an IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad graduate working in Bengaluru, who suffered a brain haemorrhage on September 18.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that, while mourning the death of his only daughter, the elderly man was made to pay bribes at every step, including an ambulance driver, police, crematorium staff and civic officials in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
According to the media report, carried on October 30, what should have been a solemn farewell turned into a nightmare of corruption, bureaucracy and inhumanity.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights. Therefore, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Karnataka, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
When the father called an ambulance after the death of his daughter, the ambulance driver apparently overcharged for the services. When he reported his daughter’s death to the police, they not only displayed a lack of empathy but also gave copies of the FIR and post-mortem report only after a bribe was paid.
According to the media report, the deceased’s family donated the girl’s eyes before cremation. Money was again demanded at the crematorium, which the father paid.
There was also a considerable delay in issuing a death certificate from the Mahadevapura Municipal authorities. Despite intervention by a senior officer, the certificate was issued only after the father paid a bribe.
Earlier, the NHRC asked 19 state governments and 4 UT Administrations to take pre-emptive steps and implement relief measures for vulnerable people ahead of the upcoming winter season.
The Commission directed the State and UT governments to protect newborns, children, infants, poor, elderly, homeless, destitutes and people involved in beggary, who are at risk of exposure to cold waves due to lack of shelter and resources, said a statement.
The right body also called for Action-Taken Reports from the government on steps taken to deal with cold waves and stressed upon the need for sensitising the State/UT authorities concerned.