bupesh
(n/a)
18 September 2007
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[align=center]NHRC takes cognizance of lynching of ten alleged thieves in Bihar: also takes note of twenty lynchings in the last two months in Jharkhand[/align]
New Delhi September 18, 2007 The National Human Rights Commission has sent notice to the DGP, Bihar and SSP Vaishali, on the lynching of ten alleged thieves by a mob in Vaishali district. Terming the incident as distressing, the Commission said that it raises a serious issue of human rights violation of the victims.
As per the newspaper reports, dated September 14, 2007, Dhelpurva village in Vaishali district had been witnessing a number of thefts in the recent days. Since, the police in the area did not take any action, the villagers themselves used to patrol the area. On the day of the incident, the village night patrol party spotted 14 people trying to hire an auto-rickshaw out of the area. When questioned, two of them reportedly panicked and tried to escape.
The villagers raised an alarm and soon a mob gathered. The mob attacked these 14 people with sticks, iron rods and stones. However, three of them could manage to escape, while 10 were lynched, the reports said. One of them however suffered serious injuries and gave the names of his deceased accomplices. He also said that they belonged to Tajpur village of the neighbouring Samastipur district.
The Commission after going through the press reports, directed that the same may be forwarded to the two State authorities for a factual report within four weeks.
The Commission also came across another new story captioned ""Twenty lynching in the last two months"" which appeared in the ""Hindustan Times"" on the same day. As per the report, atleast 20 persons had been lynched in Jharkhand in the last two months and the capital Ranchi topped the list with 13 killings.
The press report said that this trend prevalent in the area was perceived as instant justice. Those resorting to lynching had however pointed out that decreasing faith in the law of the land was responsible for these incidents, the report added.
The Commission after going through the press report said that the same may be forwarded to the DGP, Jharkhand and SSP, Ranchi for a factual report within four weeks.
