The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a detailed report from the Karnataka chief secretary and director-general of police after retired Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited chief financial officer (CFO) Sivakumar K alleged that he had to bribe ambulance drivers, policemen, and civic authorities following the death of his 34-year-old daughter.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NHRC said the notice had been issued based on the contents of news reports, which it said raised issues of violation of human rights.
The NHRC further said, “When the father called an ambulance after the death of his daughter, the ambulance driver apparently overcharged for the services. When he reported his daughter’s death to the police, they not only displayed a lack of empathy but gave copies of the FIR and postmortem report only after a bribe was paid. According to the media report, the deceased’s family donated the girl’s eyes before cremation. Money was again demanded at the crematorium, which the father paid. There was also a considerable delay in issuing a death certificate from Mahadevapura Municipal authorities. Despite intervention by a senior officer, the certificate was issued only after the father paid a bribe.”
Sivakumar’s daughter Akshaya Sivakumar, an IIM Ahmedabad graduate, died in September.
Stating that he was sharing the pain he had experienced following his daughter’s death, Sivakumar posted on social media about the bribes he had allegedly paid. The post was deleted after it went viral.
Police Sub-Inspector Santosh and Police Constable Gorakhnath, who were attached to the Bellandur police station, were then suspended pending a departmental inquiry.