Murder case: NHRC raps BSF for shielding staff

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission rapped the BSF in a case of attempted rape of a woman and murder of her father saying the prime concern of the court of inquiry of the border guarding force was to protect colleagues rather than upholding the law. Following NHRC's recommendation, the home ministry paid Rs eight lakh monetary relief to four members of the victims' family.

The NHRC's observation was in the context of a November 2010 case where three BSF constables attempted to rape a girl near Amjadnagar border outpost in south Tripura, killed her father and wounded her brothers when they tried to save her. The victim and her family live in Tripura.

The NHRC found that the BSF's staff court of inquiry (CoI) absolved the three constables accused in the case. On a stern note, the NHRC said, "This was almost invariably the case with the BSF's court of inquiry, staffed by junior officers, whose primary concern seemed to be to protect their colleagues rather than to uphold the law.

When contacted, senior home ministry and BSF officers said they could not recall the case.

In December 2010, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) filed a complaint with the NHRC against the BSF's atrocities and human rights violations.

The NHRC had sent showcause notice to the Centre. However, the government of India did not respond to the NHRC's showcause notice nor forwarded the report of the BSF's CoI. "Therefore, the Commission presumed the Government of India had nothing to say in the matter and recommended payment of monetary relief to the victims," said the NHRC spokesperson.

ACHR director Suhas Chakma said, "This is a classic case of how Indian security forces treat cases of violence against women, where all attempts are made to protect the culprits."

He urged the NHRC to not close the case till the MHA informed about steps taken to ensure that the three BSF personnel are tried for the crimes they are accused of.

Earlier, the MHA paid Rs five lakh each to the kin of two men killed by the BSF in 2010 on the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Murshidabad following an NHRC recommendation.