New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the death of a 35-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, who was allegedly subjected to physical torture at a police station in Hyderabad.

The apex human rights body issued a notice to the Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) and called for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks. Taking note of a media report, the NHRC said that the allegations, if true, raise a serious violation of the human rights of the victim. The deceased Mohd Irfan was allegedly subjected to third-degree torture by Rajendranagar Police after his wife’s relatives took him there to resolve matrimonial issues.

After counselling the couple, the police took Irfan to a room and beat him badly with rubber belts, claimed a family member of the deceased. When he came out of the Rajendranagar Police Station, the deceased started vomiting and collapsed. He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead by the doctors.

On the other hand, the police lodged a case under Section 194 (suspicious death) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and took a complaint from the wife of Irfan, stating that the deceased was maintaining an extramarital relationship with a woman.

Established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the NHRC, an autonomous statutory body, is an embodiment of India’s concern for the promotion and protection of human rights. Its primary role is to protect and promote human rights, defined as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of individuals guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.

The apex human rights body has the power to take suo motu (on its own motion) action based on media reports, public knowledge or other sources, without receiving a formal complaint of human rights violations.

–IANS

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