PANJIM: The Goa state human rights commission has taken suo motu cognizance of alleged atrocities by police against villagers, including women, in Cavrem on April 24, and has sought a report from the home secretary.
The locals, on that day, were protesting the plying of ore-laden trucks in violation of court orders. "A notice has been issued to the home secretary to submit a report regarding the incident, on the basis of newspaper reports," a source said.
The police allegedly lathi-charged the villagers, including several women and an elderly person, in Cavrem on April 24.
The women were allegedly manhandled and one of them claimed that her clothes were torn by policemen. Allegations were rife that gold mangalsutras of two women were also snatched in the melee.
Apart from the violating ore-laden trucks, the locals were also protesting that their main means of livelihood in agriculture is not protected by the state, as a tribal village.
The commission headed by former chief justice of Patna high court Justice Praful Kumar Mishra as its chairperson also received an unsigned letter regarding the human rights violation in Cavrem, but the source said anonymous complaints cannot be taken up.
Goa government had notified the formation of the commission in March this year.
Former district judge A D Salkar and former chairman of Goa public service commission Jaganath Datta Keny were named its members.
Governor S S Sidhu had appointed the commission in December 2010, but only Justice Mishra and Justice Salkar had been named then due to some technical glitch.
The commission is functioning from an inadequate office space temporarily while the government is in the process of arranging suitable accommodation for it to function in a full-fledged manner.
Staff is also being appointed while the commission also needs an officer of the status of inspector general of police (IGP) to head a team for its own investigations.
Meanwhile, the commission has disposed off two more complaints from citizens. In one case, a woman residing outside the state had placed her family dispute over property, stating that she is suffering from an illness, but the commission disposed it off on the grounds that it cannot intervene in property matters. In another case, a citizen from Vasco was aggrieved by a judgment of the civil court, but the commission disposed off the case, ruling that it has no jurisdiction in the matter of a court case.
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