CHENNAI: The T N State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Thursday took suo motu cognizance of a report titled ‘Fearing abduction, girls jump off speeding van, die’, which appeared in the front page of The New Indian Express on March 18 and ordered notice to the authorities concerned. The incident occurred in Vellore district.
Two 11-year-old girls - Lakshmi and Meenakshi - studying in Class VI in a government school in Pennagar, 2 km away from their residence, boarded a milk van for getting dropped at their residence in Vadakkumedu. They used to hitch rides home regularly. But on that fateful day, they jumped off the milk van fearing abduction when the vehicle sped past the spot where they usually alight. They sustained head injuries and died on the spot. A local inspector has told Express that the girls used to ask for rides as there was no proper bus service by the government.
The SHRC, headed by its chairperson Justice Meenakumari, suo motu took cognizance of the report and ordered notices to the managing director of Vellore division of the State Transport Corporation and the Vellore District Superintendent of Police, requiring them to file their explanation within three weeks.