New Delhi: The Calcutta high court on Thursday observed that West Bengal witnessed post-poll violence and many suffered sexual violence and grievous injuries and even minor girls were not spared, LiveLaw reported.
“There has been post-poll violence and the state was found on a wrong foot, where throughout it was in denial mode,” the court order said.
West Bengal Government in "denial mode" about post-poll violence; State found on a "wrong foot. Many were killed, sexually assaulted, even minors not spared – Calcutta High Court makes prima facie findings based on NHRC @India_NHRC report.#CalcuttaHighCourt #postpollviolence pic.twitter.com/JmpPNvMDsK
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 2, 2021
The court also criticised the police authorities for not recording complaints of survivors, and noted that in most of the cases the accused have been bailed out.
According to the report, the apex court further noted that many properties were damaged during the incident and people were forced to leave their homes and even migrate to neighbouring states.
The bench, therefore, ordered the Bengal Police to register all cases of the victims during post-poll violence and provide medical treatment to them. It also asked the authorities to supply rations to the displaced, even if they have lost their ration cards.
“Many of the persons injured in the violence are facing problems in their treatment also, with no support from the state. Some are facing difficulty in getting their ration as their ration cards have been taken away by the goons,” the order stated, as per the report.
Also read: How Women Are Bearing the Brunt of Post-poll Violence in West Bengal
The court asked the police authorities to take immediate steps to get the statements of the victims recorded under section 164 CrPC.
This comes as a setback to the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led government which had earlier submitted that there was no post-poll violence in the state after the party scored a thumping victory in the assembly elections.
The court made these observations on the basis of an interim report submitted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) panel. The report is based on 541 complaints the NHRC has received from the post-poll violence victims.
Noting the apathy inhibited by the police authorities, the court said that the state government kept claiming that there were no complaints. However, when an opportunity was given to the victims to file complaints with the State Legal Services Authority or the NHRC, the authorities were flooded with complaints.
The court had on June 18 directed the chairperson of the NHRC to constitute a committee to examine all cases of alleged human rights violations during post-poll violence in the state.