Mangalore: Police should not detain people without proof - state HRC member
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (DV)
Mangalore, Mar 1: "The right to life is the fundamental right of every individual in the society, it should be embraced with dignity and respect. Every individual in the society must be respected and human values and dignity should be upheld," said C G Hunagund, Karnataka State Human Rights Commission member, while addressing the district officers of various departments in DC office, here today.
"It is the responsibility of the National Human Rights Commission to prevent violation of human rights. As civilization, modernization and rationalization develop, humanity too must grow alongside."
"When we perform our daily tasks, we should be conscious so as not to invade the rights of another person," he added.
Citing the example of the recent arrest and release of Bangalore reporters on charges of terrorism, he slammed the Bangalore police for arresting without proper evidence and said, "The police department should not detain any person without authentic proof. Though interrogation is necessary, detention should have some basis and innocent people should not be picked up in the name of investigation. Some of the media are spreading the message that people from the minority community have been arrested, but according to law, human rights are equal to everyone, be it minority or majority."
"We receive complaints of human rights violation in the state, in various areas like police department, in women and child sector, prisoners, sexual harassment of women, child labor etc. Every individual has the right to live happily and get basic facilities."
He further said, "In this district there are 150 cases of human rights violations in which 130 are authentic. There are only two rehabilitation centers for endosulfan victims; earlier the government had sanctioned only Rs 2 crore but this time it is increased to Rs 20 crore."
He also expressed grief on the decreasing female ratio, and said that this was because of human right violations. "Development is necessary for the state, but in the name of development, human rights are being violated which is a crime. So, complete the work with a concern for humanity, to uphold the respect and dignity of human values," he said.
Between 2007 and 2013, the commission received 1,746 complaints of human rights violation, out of which 1,068 have been disposed and the remaining 678 are pending. Chief among the cases in Mangalore handled by the commission were church attacks, pub attack, cases of moral policing, Endosulfan issue, arrest of journalist of Kannada daily, complaints against hydro-power projects, Made Snana, complaints regarding provision of jobs to displaced families under MSEZ and others.
Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner N Prakash, city police commissioner Manish Karbikar, assistant DC Dayanand were present on this occasion.
Hunagund also visited the district jail later and conducted inspection.