Patna High Court takes cognisance of video showing Bihar police dumping accident victim's body in canal

The Patna High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of news reports depicting a disturbing video in which three Bihar policemen were seen dumping the body of a road accident victim in a canal in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar..The High Court remarked that the way the police appeared to have acted in the incident was a sad reflection of society.A bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Rajiv Roy emphasized that lifeless bodies are sacred vessels of the soul and therefore deserve a higher level of respect and dignity in their handling."Many believe that bodies, without life, are dispensable repositories of the soul, but when alive, it carries a soul; the part of a whole, which exists in every living being. A little more respect and a lot more dignity in its disposal is required," the Court added.In this regard, the Court also referred to the National Human Rights Commission's advisory on Upholding the dignity and protecting the rights of the deceased..In the order passed on October 9, the Court proceeded to direct the State government to provide information regarding whether any action was taken against the erring police officials."We direct the Union and the State to place on record the guidelines, if any, formulated and if not, to formulate the same and produce it within two weeks. We also require the DGP to place on record the action taken against the erring officials," the Court said..The matter will be taken up next on October 31..The case was initiated after a video went viral on social media, which showed three Bihar policemen disposing of the remains of an accident victim into a canal near the outpost area of Muzaffarpur district.The three officers have since been suspended.According to media reports, the victim had died in a road accident near Dhodhi Canal bridge. Upon receiving information about the accident, the police were said to have arrived at the scene and disposed of the body in a canal..[Read Order]

Patna High Court takes cognisance of video showing Bihar police dumping accident victim's body in canal

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