Woman, child forced out of shelter home, THRC takes cognizance

Tripura Human Rights Commission on Tuesday took cognisance of a suo moto complaint related to the ill-treatment of a woman and her child in a shelter home functioning under the aegis of Social Welfare and Social Education Department.  

The Commission headed by Justice Arindam Lodh also sought a report from the Social Welfare and Social Education Department.

According to an order issued by the commission, the victim identified as Anamika Dey of Radha Nagar (Belonia) appeared before the panel along with her daughter Dipika Dey and alleged that she had been staying at Amina Khuri Shakti Sadan at Shyamali Bazar in Agartala.

She alleged that the in-charge of the home, identified as Subhra Majumder, drove her out of the institution two days ago, after which she had been moving from place to place without food.

The woman told the commission that she was willing to continue staying at the shelter home. She, however, admitted to assaulting some inmates and alleged that her child had also been beaten by them, following which she reacted.

“The matter was inquired into by the investigation wing of the commission, which found the woman’s allegations to be genuine,” the order said.

The superintendent of the home also admitted to having driven out the woman and justified the action by claiming that permission had been obtained from the Tripura Commission for Women, from where the woman had earlier been received, it said.

The commission said it considered the matter a “serious lapse” involving violation of the human rights of both the woman and her child and formally took cognisance of the incident.

Pending intervention by the Social Welfare and Social Education Department, the commission contacted the officer-in-charge of NCC police station and requested deployment of women police personnel for the safety and temporary accommodation of the woman and her child.

Later, officials of the Social Welfare and Social Education Department, including Mission Shakti State Nodal Officer Biplab Ghosh, State Coordinator Mousumi Paul and State Gender Specialist Rashmita Chakraborty, appeared before the commission.

The commission subsequently ordered that the woman and her child be handed over to the custody of the department for proper care and accommodation.

It also issued notice to the Director of Social Welfare and Social Education Department, Government of Tripura, directing him to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a detailed report before the next hearing.