The NHRC has admitted a petition filed by a Jammu-based RTI activist over the mysterious deaths of 17 people from three Scheduled Tribe families in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district during the past one-and-a-half months.
In his petition to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Raman Sharma sought the statutory body's intervention to ensure "justice, relief and proactive measures to safeguard the rights and dignity of citizens in vulnerable areas".
17 people, including 13 children, died under mysterious circumstances in Badhaal village between December 7 and January 19. The patients complained of fever, pain, intense sweating, nausea and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their admission to hospitals.
Investigations and samples collected empirically indicated the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there was no public health angle, prompting police to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the deceased. A central inter-ministerial team has also joined the multi-agency probe to unravel the mystery behind the deaths.
"The families and community of Badhaal village urgently need support.