Latest news with #PriyankKanoongo
Hans India
14-05-2025
- Hans India
MP: Hindu girl students sexually exploited, says NHRC
Bhopal: Member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Priyank Kanoongo said on Wednesday that Hindu girls were being deliberately targeted and sexually exploited in Bhopal. Kanoongo's comments came against the backdrop of a high-profile racket of an alleged nexus of love jihad in Bhopal that was busted a few weeks ago, wherein nearly half a dozen girls students of a private engineering college complained that they were sexually exploited by a group of the Muslim community. He informed that upon receiving information, a team of NHRC arrived in Bhopal to investigate the matter, adding that the NHRC team would carry out an investigation for two days in Bhopal. He said that half a dozen victims have complained, but the number of victims is expected to increase. 'NHRC would request the victims and their parents to come forward to lodge complaints, while their identity would not be revealed. We had received the complaint, and a preliminary investigation revealed that Hindu girl students were being targeted and were being sexually abused. The accused persons not only sexually exploited them but also videographed, served intoxication and forced them to convert their religion,' Kanoongo told IANS. Kanoongo further stated that there are several aspects on which an investigation need to be done, adding that the NHRC team would make the entire thing very clear in the next two days. Meanwhile, he also questioned on Bhopal Police, saying what surprising that the local area police station was located hardly 500 meters away from the college, but the police did not take any action. "Crime was operating in the city, but the Bhopal Police was sitting quietly. I also have doubts that some evidences were destroyed by the police during their investigation. We will investigate it thoroughly and come out with a concrete report in the next two days," he added. Notably, after the shocking incident came into the fore a few weeks ago, the Madhya Pradesh government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of senior police officials to investigate the matter. So far, five accused have been arrested for allegedly raping girl students by hiding their identities and blackmailing them by making videos. The main accused in the case, Farhan Ali, was arrested on May 3 in Bhopal.
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
NHRC writes to Odisha DGP and Chief Secretary in matter related to KIIT Nepalese student suicide case
The National Human Rights Commission has written a letter to Odisha's Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) over the issue of a Nepalese student who was found dead at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar. Earlier, NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo said that the organisation has taken cognisance of the death of a Nepalese student at KIIT. 'We will take further action after the report comes, if needed, our team will go there,' said Mr. Kanoongo. Speaking about the previous incident where another girl student was found dead on the KIIT campus, Mr. Kanoongo said the university administration tried to suppress the issue. 'During our investigation, it came out that the student was sexually assaulted, pornographic content was filmed, and then she was blackmailed. When the girl complained to the college administration, instead of informing the police, the university administration tried to have a compromise and suppress the issue. Prima facie, the university administration was the culprit, so we asked the UGC to take strict action, as the environment was not conducive there,' he said. In response to the tragedy, the University Grant Commission (UGC) has constituted a four-member fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of the Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Nageshwar Rao, to look into the recent alleged suicide deaths at committee will examine the circumstances surrounding these incidents, ensure compliance with student welfare and safety regulations, and suggest measures to prevent such incidents. The committee also includes Shashikala Wanjari, Vice-Chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), and HCS Rathore, Former Vice Chancellor of Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, as a member and Sunita Siwach, Joint Secretary of UGC as the coordination officer, according to a statement from UGC on Friday. Earlier in February, Prakriti Lamsal also died by suicide at the same university.
India Gazette
03-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
NHRC writes to Odisha DGP and Chief Secretary in matter related to KIIT Nepalese student suicide case
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 3 (ANI): The National Human Rights Commission has written a letter to Odisha's Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) over the issue of Nepalese student who was found dead at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar. Earlier, National Human Rights Commission member Priyank Kanoongo said that the organisation has taken cognisance of the death of a Nepalese student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar. 'In yesterday's (May 1) incident, we have taken cognisance, issued a notice, and sought a report from the DGP and the chief secretary, which is to be submitted within 7 days. We will take further action after the report comes... If needed, our team will go there,' Kanoongo told ANI. Speaking on the previous incident where another girl student was found dead on the KIIT campus, Kanoongo said the university administration tried to suppress the issue. 'On March 27, we submitted a report - when we had this information of a Nepali girl committing suicide, our team went there and in the investigation, it came out that that student was sexually assaulted, pornographic content was filmed, and then she was blackmailed. When the girl complained to the college administration, instead of informing the police, the university administration tried to have a compromise and suppress the issue. Prima facie, the university administration was the culprit, so we asked the UGC to take strict action, as the environment was not conducive there,' he said. In response to the tragedy, the University Grant Commission (UGC) has constituted a four-member fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of the Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Nageshwar Rao, to look into the recent alleged suicide deaths at KIIT. The committee will examine the circumstances surrounding these incidents, ensure compliance with student welfare and safety regulations, and suggest measures to prevent such incidents. The committee also includes Shashikala Wanjari, Vice-Chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), and HCS Rathore, Former Vice Chancellor of Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, as a member and Sunita Siwach, Joint Secretary of UGC as the coordination officer, according to a statement from UGC on Friday. Earlier in February, Prakriti Lamsal also died by suicide at the same university. (ANI)
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
In '24-'25, 1,351 child marriages stopped in 416 districts: Report
NEW DELHI: An analysis of data complied from 416 districts in 23 states by a collective of voluntary organisations shows as many as 1,351 child marriages were stopped and over 1.2 lakh prevented through legal interventions in 2024-25, reports Ambika Pandit. As many as 779 FIRs were registered in cases where marriage could not be stopped with the maximum cases (170) filed in West Bengal followed by Tamil Nadu (146) and Bihar (114). The data collated by ' Just Rights For Children ' (JRC) - a network of over 250 organisations shows that of the 1,351 cases where marriages were stopped , legal inverventions involved making a general diary entry in the police stations record (737 cases), intervention of Child Welfare Committees (593 cases) and through an injunction order from the courts ( 21 cases). In over 1.2 lakh cases, mostly where information regarding a family planning to marry their underage daughter was received, marriage was prevented by taking undertakings from the parents and guardians before govt authorities like police, sub divisional magistrate, child marriage prohibition officer or panchayat member. Besides this in a little more than 66,000 cases undertakings were taken from parents where a prospective child marriage was being planned in villages through persuasion by community social workers associated with JRC network. The data comes ahead of 'Akshay Tritiya' when a lot of child marriages are usually solemnised in the garb of mass marriages and which will be observed on April 30 this year. In fact, NHRC has alerted states to step-up action to prevent child marriage and look out for vulnerable out-of-school girls . NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo has asked state authorities to issue instructions to the school administration to review current statistics on school drop-outs and re-enrol them.
