Overview

• The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of a media report on July 2 and issued notices to Odisha’s chief secretary and DGP.
• The commission has asked for a detailed response within 15 days outlining steps taken in the investigation and measures for compensating the victims.
• According to reports, the June 26 assault in Ganjam district saw two Scheduled Caste individuals beaten, forced to eat grass and drink drain water, their mobile phones seized and heads forcibly tonsured.
• The NHRC warned that if the reported facts are verified, they constitute serious human rights violations.
• The move intensifies scrutiny of Odisha’s handling of multiple recent caste-based violence cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.