TNI Bureau: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that a 19-year-old girl immolated herself in Odisha’s Kendrapara district amid allegations of police inaction for nearly six months on the complaint about a former male friend blackmailing her. Reportedly, he was threatening to post her obscene photos and videos on social media.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights. Therefore, it has issued a notice to the Director General of Police, Odisha, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks, including the status of the investigation.

According to the media report, the girl was studying at a College in Kendrapara district. Her father alleged that she was being regularly blackmailed by a former male friend. A complaint in this regard was given to the police by the father of the victim about six months back, but neither an FIR was registered nor any action was taken against the alleged perpetrator. Rather, a police officer reportedly discouraged him from pursuing the matter and suggested blocking the phone number of the blackmailer.