NHRC Directs Odisha Police To Take Action In Subhalaxmi Death Case In 8 Weeks

Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has reportedly directed the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack to take appropriate action in the case relating to the death of a girl under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in Bhubaneswar.

The girl, identified as Subhalaxmi Sahu, was found hanging in a hotel room in Odisha capital in August, this year.

Acting on a petition filed by a rights activist, the Commission has asked the Police Commissioner to take action in the matter within eight weeks.

Stating that the complaint should be transmitted to the authority concerned for appropriate action, the Commission said the authority concerned is directed to take appropriate action within eight weeks associating the complainant/victim and to inform him/her of the action taken in the matter, according to sources.

Notably, Subhalaxmi, a Plus II student of Kamala Nehru Women’s College in Bhubaneswar, was found hanging inside the room of a hotel located on Puri-Cuttack Road in Bhubaneswar on August 4.

The postmortem report showed that the girl died due to asphyxiation around 24-36 hours before the post-mortem. While the body bore ligature marks, there were no injury marks on other parts of the body. The Bhubaneswar DCP later confirmed that she died by suicide.

It may be noted here that the Odisha State Commission for Women (SCW) had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and registered a case. The panel has asked Bhubaneswar DCP to conduct a thorough probe in this matter and submit a report.