Darbhanga Panchayat settled minor girl rape case for Rs. 1.25 lakh, victim dies after 16 days; NHRC issue notice to Bihar govt, police

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the Bihar government and police over delayed action in the sexual assault of a minor girl in Darbhanga district who died 16 days after the incident.

In a notice to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police of Bihar, the commission asked them to submit a detailed report within six weeks.

“The report should include the status of the investigation conducted in the matter. The response from the authorities is expected at the earliest, but not later than 6 weeks,” the NHRC said in a statement.

The commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that in Darbhanga District of Bihar, the police failed to know till the death of a 13-year-old rape victim that her parents and the village Panchayat tried to settle the case by asking her tormentor to pay Rs. 1.25 lakh to the family, the NHRC said.

“Reportedly, after receiving the amount, the victim’s family sent her to the house of the accused, saying nobody would marry her. She stayed with the accused for 5 days before being thrown out,” it said.

“Subsequently, she was sent by her parents to her elder sister’s house, where she died 16 days after her sexual assault on March 1,” it added.

According to the media report, on March 19, the victim was sexually assaulted by a man of the same village when she had gone to graze the cattle in the area coming under the jurisdiction of Vazidpur Police Station in Darbhanga district.

Reportedly, the victim was not provided with any medical treatment. The police exhumed the body of the victim and sent it for a post-mortem examination.