Thane, July 22 (IANS): Taking suo moto cognizance of media reports that a 16-year-old tribal teenager was tortured in police custody in Thane during interrogation and died June 21, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Tuesday sought a report from the Maharashtra government.
The NHRC has served notice to the state's principal secretary (home) to submit a detailed report on the shocking incident within a month.
According to reports, the tribal victim, Babu Thakre was detained and tortured in police custody by the police in Bhiwandi town of Thane district last month.
His detention followed a tip-off to police that a man named Babu had stolen two kg gold.
However, instead of nabbing the criminal Babu living in the same neighbourhood, police swooped on the tribal boy Babu and subjected him to torture during interrogation.
Later, he was summoned by police for further questioning and June 21 tried to hang himself, and later died in hospital.
"The contents of the newspaper report, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights of the teenager and next of his kin," NHRC said in its communication to the state government.