NHRC notice to UP over 2 minor sisters sent to jail instead of juvenile home in cow slaughter case

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today said it has issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government over two sisters, bother minor, being sent to a jail instead of a juvenile home in a case of alleged cow slaughter.

The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that in a case of alleged cow slaughter, the police sent the two girls, aged about 12 and 16 years, to the jail in Khatauli in district Muzaffarnagar, instead of sending them to juvenile home, as required by the law, despite they producing their Aadhaar cards as proof of their age.

The police officers preferred to go by their physical appearances instead of believing their Aadhaar cards which were shown to them as proof of their age, the NHRC said in a statement.

The girls could come out of the jail on bail only after spending three-and-a-half months there and they felt traumatized, the rights body said.

"The contents of the news report about the incident, if true, amount to gross violation of human rights of the two minor girls. Not sending the minor girls to juvenile home, if they are in conflict with the law, is a violation of the statutory obligation on part of the public servant," the commission observed.

Accordingly, the NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary and the director general of police of the state, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.

According to the media report, carried on the April 10, both the sisters were arrested on December 29 last year, along with seven others, including their mother while their father was on the run.