NHRC reports human rights concerns over three-person demonstration in South Kolkata

Representative image | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday (October 29, 2026) took suo motu cognizance of reports that three accused were paraded in a semi-clothed state in the city’s Behala area and issued a notice to the Kolkata Police Commissioner asking him to submit a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.

A press release by the Commission said that according to media reports, three persons were found in Kolkata in a semi-clothed condition with ropes tied around their waists. The commission noted that the content of the report, if true, “raises serious issues of human rights violations.”

“The day before the incident, an 18-year-old young man and his 19-year-old friend, who were allegedly seen with a minor girl, were beaten and humiliated by the girl’s family members in her house. The young man’s father, who was summoned by the girl’s family, was also attacked. Subsequently, all three were stripped and forced to walk the road naked with a gun in hand,” he said. On October 27, Kolkata police paraded two shirtless men in shorts with ropes tied around their waists. The two were arrested on Monday (October 26, 2026) for parading three naked men, including two teenagers, on roads in the Kolkata district. The police paraded the accused half-clothed on the same stretch where the accused forced family members of the youths the day before.

Human rights organizations such as the Association for the Defense of Democratic Rights (APDR) have raised questions about the police’s conduct, saying the police are trying to “normalize revenge” and handing out sentences that must be done by the courts.

This was not the first time that the West Bengal police had paraded the accused half-clothed as part of a crime scene reconstruction. Earlier, several reports emerged from Howrah, Calcutta and other parts of the state that accused persons were paraded not only with ropes tied around their waists but also in vests and underwear. The arrests, mostly of the accused, who faced several charges of extortion, came after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state.

On June 2026, the Calcutta High Court observed that the state has the power to arrest and prosecute individuals but cannot subject them to humiliation. “The police… can act according to law. If found guilty, they can also hang him. But they cannot deliberately defame the accused in the name of arrest,” the court observed.

Published – 29 Oct 2026 19:31 IST