Mangalore: Police should be neutral while dealing with cases: Meera Saxena
Pics: Dayanada Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (DV)
Mangalore, Jan 18: Out of 1,947 cases of human rights violation registered between 2008 and December 2013 in Dakshina Kannada district, 1,196 cases have been resolved and the rest 751 cases are pending, said Meera Saxena, member of Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC).
She was addressing a meeting at DC's office here on Saturday January 18. The meeting was held to review complaints of human rights violation filed under various departments. Earlier in the day, she accepted complaints from the public, very few in number, and these complaints were discussed at the meeting.
"In DK district most of the cases received by the Human Rights Commission have been about land disputes, matters of civil court, service, and family issues, all twisted in such a way as to project them as human rights violations. But these cases should be dealt with through a particular system only. Secondly, there were also complaints like lack of civic amenities, potholes on roads and so on," she said.
"I have received a complaint by a person from Sullia alleging that police had opened rowdy sheet on 10 youths, and their passport verification was refused," she said, demanding an explaination from the police officials who were present. In response, Shivakumar, additional SP said that rowdy sheet is be opened only after studying the attitude and behavior of a particular person who is involved in crime. "We rarely open rowdy sheets for a single case. In Sullia we have not any opened rowdy sheet on the 10 individuals as claimed by the complainant, but we will surely look into this matter," he said.
Commenting on the police department, Meera said, "People who are arrested in minor cases are made to remain in jail for more than 4 months without producing them in court, even though the punishment for their offences may be one month, is this not injustice? Are we not violating human rights? A few prisoners also alleged that the food brought from outside for them was being given by jail officials in buckets used in toilets, and hence the prisoners were throwing away the food." To this, Shivakumar said the matter would be taken up with the police commissioner and suitable action would be taken.
She also added that police should maintain neutrality when there is any conflict between the rich and the poor. "You should not favour the rich. When there is a conflict between a man and a woman, you support man, and that is why women are afraid to come to police station to file complaints. Police should protect them and be like a friend when people approach you. Everyone should feel free to approach the law," she told the police officals present at the meeting.
"People should not be deprive of right to healthcare which is very essential. Officers should create more awareness among people about HIV, tuberculosis and other diseases. In Udupi, in SC/ST hostels a few students also expressed the need for tuitions as they found subjects like maths and science tough. In cases of child labour, we have learnt that children are made to work in garages and hotels, hence officers should try to work for their rights," Meera Saxena said.
Enquiring on a complaint filed by photojournalist Ishwaraj regarding poor print quality of Mescom receipts, Meera Saxena asked Mescom officials to explain about the fading of ink from receipts generated by ATP (anytime payment) machines. She also said no system should disappoint the customers. "If a person pays electricity bill and get a receipt on thermal paper on which the ink does not remain visible for many days, how can the person prove that the bill has been paid?" she questioned.
Umesh Kumar from Kannur complained that his mother Paru Kutty has been lying in a private hospital from 7 months, as he could not afford to clear the hospital bills. He said that Paru Kutty was admitted to the hospital due to breathing problems and her bills came upp to Rs 2.90 lac. "I have already paid rupees 2 lac but I could not pay the remaining Rs 90,000. I told the doctor that I would pay the remaining sum later, but the hospital has not discharged my mother," he said. Meera Saxena asked DC to look into this matter and solve it.
On this occasion DC A B Ibrahim, ADC Dayanand and ZP CEO Tulasi Maddineni were present.