The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a 25-year-old woman committing suicide alleging sexual harassment by a man who brought her to his apartment in Hyderabad for surrogacy.
The commission today issued notices to both the chief secretary, Shanti Kumari, and the DGP of Telangana, Jitender asking them to submit a detailed report within two weeks. It has also asked to include the status of the FIR in the matter and other complaints of harassment of women in the name of surrogacy in their reports.
A woman had died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the ninth floor of the building at a premium gated community in the Raidurgam area of Hyderabad on 27 November.
The victim who hailed from Odisha was apparently brought to the city for surrogacy through middlemen following a deal of Rs10 lakh struck with her husband. She was staying in a flat separately while her husband and four-year-old son stayed at another accommodation separately. The woman had apparently, called up her husband before her death and complained about the sexual harassment she was facing and said she did not want to stay there any longer. The woman was not pregnant at the time of her death.
The commission observed that the media reports raised “a serious violation of the human rights of the victim woman. It has issued notices to the chief secretary and the DGP, Telangana calling for a detailed report including the status of the FIR registered in the matter within two weeks.”
The Commission said it would also like to know from the police authorities if there were any complaints from the people regarding harassment of women in the name of surrogacy in the State.
Although the commission’s statement mentioned suicide, investigations revealed two sarees and a dupatta tied from the balcony which led them to suspect the woman may have fallen while trying to escape from the apartment on the ninth floor during the night.