BRS Legislators Take Telangana Police Conduct Complaint to NCW, NHRC

A delegation of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Delhi on Friday, submitting a complaint about what they described as the "attack and indecent behaviour" of Telangana Police towards women legislators outside the Assembly premises in Hyderabad on September 7.

The delegation included former Ministers P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, V. Sunitha Laxma Reddy, Satyavathi Rathod and G. Jagadish Reddy; legislators Kova Laxmi, S. Vani Devi and P. Rajeshwar Reddy; MPs V. Ravichandra and D. Damodar Rao; and legal cell members Lalitha Reddy and S. Bharath Kumar, among others.

In their submissions to the two commissions, the legislators alleged that the police tried to stifle them and behaved indecently with party leaders, including by pulling at their sarees. They said they had been prevented from entering the Assembly premises.

The delegation stated that they met NCW Chairperson Vijaya K. Rahatkar and NHRC member Vijaya Bharathi, and placed these allegations before them.

According to the BRS members, no First Information Report had been registered on their complaint even 100 hours after the incident. They have asked the two commissions to direct the State police to preserve CCTV footage of the events outside the Assembly, which they said is material to any inquiry.

The Women's Commission, the delegation said, assured them that it would seek a report from the Director-General of Police.

The NCW and the NHRC are statutory bodies. The NCW can inquire into complaints relating to the safety and dignity of women and can call for reports from State authorities, but it does not itself register criminal cases. The registration and investigation of an FIR is the responsibility of the police under the criminal procedure law in force. Similarly, the NHRC can examine complaints of alleged violation of human rights and recommend action to the concerned government, but its recommendations are advisory in nature.

The BRS is the principal opposition party in Telangana. The September 7 incident took place during a confrontation between party legislators and the police outside the Assembly building in Hyderabad, at a time when the legislators said they were seeking to enter the premises.

The account given in this report is based on the submissions made by the BRS delegation. The response of the Telangana Police and the State government to these allegations was not available in the material on which this report is based, and their version would be necessary for a complete picture of the events of September 7.

The complaint to the two national commissions shifts part of the scrutiny over the incident from the State machinery to central statutory bodies. What follows will depend on whether the NCW and NHRC seek reports from the Telangana Director-General of Police, and whether the police register a case based on the legislators' complaint. The preservation of CCTV footage has been made a specific request, since such recordings are typically retained only for a limited period unless an authority directs otherwise.