Telangana CM orders inquiry into custodial death of Dalit woman

In the matter of the custodial death of a Dalit woman in Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has ordered an immediate inquiry and asked the concerned authorities to take stringent action against the police personnel responsible as per the law.

The Director-General of Police (DGP) Mahender Reddy has been instructed to conduct the inquiry about the lock-up death of the Dalit women Mariamma and to take stringent action against the police personnel responsible as per the law.

"We will not pardon such incidents. The government will not keep quiet if anyone does harm to Dalits. There will be swift action on the matter. There should not be any delay in inquiring about the culprits of lockup death and taking stern action against them. If need be, dismiss them from the service," the Chief Minister said on Friday.

Calling Mariamma's death very painful, he said that the government would never support such measures.

Rao also mentioned that the Telangana government would support the children of the victim, and instructed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to ensure that Mariamma's son Uday Kiran gets a government job, a house, and an ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh, and that her two daughters are given a sum of Rs 10 lakh each.

He further instructed the DGP to visit Chintakaniki to find out the facts and details about the lockup death and to console the members of the victim's family.

Calling for a change in the attitude of the society towards the Dalits, Rao said, "There is a need for the society to change its attitude towards the Dalits. The attitude and behaviour of the police especially, towards the Dalits should be in favour of them and to support them."

"It is unfortunate that when the police machinery is making a qualitative change in maintaining the law-and-order situation, such an incident takes place," he added.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued a notice to the Government of Telangana over the case of the death of Mariamma.

The notice was issued on the orders of its Chairman Vijay Sampla on Tuesday.

NCSC has also issued notice to District Collector and Superintendent of Police of Bhongir district, Chief Secretary of the state and Director General of Police Telangana asking them to submit a report within seven days about the facts and information on the action taken on the matter.

As per the information available with NCSC, a Dalit woman, Mariamma, cook in a house, was arrested along with her son Uday Kiran on the complaint of theft filed by the owner and died in lock-up of Addagudur police station in Bhongir district due to alleged police torture. Mariamma was beaten for four days at various places on her body, as per the reports.

(ANI)

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