BeyondHeadlines News Desk
On 15 September 2013, a group of a dozen police officers from the Special Operational Group (SOG) of the Odisha Police surrounded the house of human rights defender Mr Muralidhara Patra, and made threats against him to his mother. Muralidhara Patra is a grass-roots human rights defender who works in Jajpur, Keonjhar district, Odish state to defend labour rights and the rights of Dalits and displaced people, among other things.
Since 2010, Muralidhara Patra has been working with Dalit rights organisation Bharat Mukti Morcha (Indian Liberation Front), and he co-founded the forum Ambedkar Dalit Bikash Parisad (Ambedkar Dalit Development Foundation), which works for the protection of Dalit and labour rights in the Sukinda mining area in Orisha state. He also provides training to local human rights defenders working in villages on how to approach human rights commissions and state authorities in cases of human rights violations against marginalised groups, and helps local people to file complaints with human rights institutions when a violation has taken place.
On 15 September, at approximately 3pm, a uniformed group of 10-15 SOG police officers showed up at Muralidhara Patra’s house in Ponga Tala Shahi village, Keonjhar district, and surrounded the building. The human rights defender’s mother was the only person present in the house at this time. The police officers then entered the premises and started a full search for Muralidhara Patra. They refused to answer the human rights defender’s mother’s questions as to whether they had a court order, stating only that they came from Telkoi police station.
The police officers then began to make threats to the mother regarding Muralidhara Patra; they threatened to kill the human rights defender by orchestrating an encounter, and told the mother to warn the human rights defender against acting against the Superintendent of Police. They further warned her that the family would suffer the consequences if a complaint about the visit or the threats were made to any human rights forum or commission. The police officers spent a total of 45 minutes at the house. Muralidhara Patra and his mother have since relocated to the city of Bhubaneswar out of concerns for their safety.
There are strong indications that the visit by the police was motivated directly by two cases currently pending before the National Human Rights Commission,which were brought to it by Muralidhara Patra. Both cases concern miscarriages of justice in which the police played a part.
Front Line Defenders is concerned for the safety of human rights defender Muralidhara Patra and his family in the light of the grave nature of the threats made against him by uniformed SOG police officers in relation to his legitimate human rights activities, in particular his role in bringing cases of human rights violations to the attention of state commissions.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in India to:
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Carry out a thorough, impartial and immediate investigation into the threats made by SOG police officers against Muralidhara Patra, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;
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Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of human rights defender Muralidhara Patra, as well as of the members of his family;
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Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in India are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including police and judicial harassment.
