HRDs associated with the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), 

Progressive Writers Association (PWA), All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)

Telangana

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on August 11, 2021, regarding the illegal detention of women HRDs by the Telangana Police for conducting a fact-finding of the rape of two women at a hospital in Telangana. 

A lab technician named Uma Maheswar from Gandhi Hospital at Mahbubnagar, Telangana, allegedly raped two women, aged 38 and 40, from Mahabubnagar district. The victims accompanied a patient, who was admitted to the hospital on August 5, 2021. The victims then went missing. 

The son of the patient, who was discharged on August 11, received communication that his aunt was found in a secluded place in the hospital premises in an unconscious state lying naked with visible abuse marks on her body. When she regained her consciousness, she shared her ordeal of sexual abuse and rape with her family members. 

When the victims approached the Mahabubnagar police station, the police refused to register a complaint claiming that it was out of their jurisdiction. The victims then went to different police stations to register their complaints and finally registered them at Chilakaluguda police station. 

Women activists from different organizations visited the hospital to undertake a fact-finding of the incident on August 17, 2021. They were arbitrarily detained by the Lalguda Police and were only released in the evening and allowed to meet the hospital superintendent. 

The arbitrary detention of the HRDs is the misuse of power by police officials violates the DK Basu guideline as they were not informed about the reasons for detention.