New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Tuesday issued notice to local authorities in Uttar Pradesh over reports that five children, ostracized by other villagers, were forced to live in a graveyard after the death of their parents from AIDS.
Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, the NHRC issued notice to the district magistrate of Pratapgarh and has asked him to submit a report within four weeks.
The commission observed that the contents of the media reports raised a serious issue of violation of human rights and individual dignity.
The children, aged between 7 and 17 years, were compelled to live under a tarpaulin shed near the graves of their parents after the villagers shunned them.
The villagers did not want these children to stay in their house as they feared that they might also be infected. The children have stopped attending school and are surviving on the food given them by some villagers, the NHRC said in a statement.
