Girls as young as eight have been sold in Rajasthan following formal agreements on stamped papers and women raped on diktats of village caste councils to settle disputes, Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar has reported. The report prompted the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to issue a notice to the state government a day after the report was carried on Wednesday.
The report said people in places such as Bhilwara approach the caste councils to settle their disputes instead of going to the police. It added often girls are sold or their mothers are ordered to be raped.
The report said a caste council forced a man to sell his sister first and then his 12-year-old daughter to settle a ₹15 lakh debt.
Another girl was sold for ₹6 lakh and taken to Agra. She was sold again thrice and became pregnant four times. Her father was forced to sell her and their house to replay pay ₹6 lakh taken for the treatment of his wife, who later died.
In a statement, NHRC said it took cognisance of its own to the report. Girls have reportedly been auctioned to recover money in case of disputes over financial transactions and loans. They have even been trafficked abroad and subjected to physical abuse, torture, sexual assault, and slavery.
The NHRC said if the contents of the report are accurate, this amounts to grave human rights violations. It asked Rajasthan’s chief secretary to file a detailed action taken report within four weeks. The NHRC has sought details of measures already taken and proposed to be taken to prevent such incidents.
The rights panel said the report must detail the measures being taken to ensure the functioning of village councils as per the Constitution and the Panchayati Raj Act to eradicate the caste-based system impinging the human rights and the right to dignity of girls and women.
The Rajasthan Police chief has also been issued a notice for a detailed report on the prosecution of the perpetrators of such crimes, their abettors, and sympathisers. NHRC has sought details of the status of cases, charge sheets, arrests, etc.
The panel asked the police chief to provide details about the steps being taken or proposed to be taken against the public servants, who failed to prevent such incidents.
NHRC’s special rapporteur Umesh Kumar Sharma will also visit Rajasthan and submit a report within three months.
