SHRC orders police to act on minors’ complaint

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed the Meenangadi police to act on a complaint by two children alleging mental and physical hardship due to the illicit affair of their mother, official sources said on Friday (January 30).

The children — a boy aged 14 years and a girl aged eight — claimed in their complaint that their mother’s partner had beaten them up and, as a result of her illicit affair, their father had left the family.

The father got a transfer to Karnataka and indicated his unwillingness to continue living with his wife, who is a government employee, the sources said.

The Commission’s judicial member K. Byjunath directed the Meenangadi Station House Officer (SHO) to take immediate action on the complaint.

The Commission also instructed the children to approach the SHO if they faced any physical harm or other threats from their mother or her partner in the future.

The police told the Commission that it had legal limitations to take action in disputes within the family. It also said that the woman and her husband had been asked to resolve their dispute in a family court.