NHRC admits petition on mysterious deaths in J&K's Rajouri

New Delhi: 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".

Seventeen 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… The commission (NHRC) will take appropriate steps to ensure justice, relief, and proactive measures to safeguard the rights and dignity of citizens in vulnerable areas," the RTI activist said in his petition on Thursday.

He also requested the NHRC to depute a team to Rajouri to interact with the victim families and gather firsthand information.

The NHRC has admitted the petition and allotted the case diary number to the petitioner.

Sharma demanded in the petition immediate financial compensation, medical and psychological support for the families affected, highlighting their poor background.

He pleaded for urgency of the NHRC's involvement to expedite the investigation and ensure transparency and accountability.

He has also urged the NHRC to recommend preventive measures to avoid such tragedies in the future, including regular testing of water sources, awareness campaigns on chemical safety, and improved healthcare infrastructure in rural areas.