Civil Rights activist Bela Bhatia was threatened by a group of 30 men who forcefully entered her house in Chattisgarh‘s Bastar on Monday morning. The goons asked her to vacate her house within 24 hours and threatened to kill her if she refused to do as desired by them.
Bhatia’s partner, according to the reports said that “The goons also threatened her landlady. He said they wanted Bhatia to leave immediately but ended up giving her 24 hours to leave after she pleaded with them.”
Bhatia accompanied with the National Human Rights Commission went to Bijapur to record the statements of rape and assault victims. The NHRC in its recent report accused Bastar police personnel of raping 16 tribal women in the area.
Activists getting threats for standing up for tribal rights is not new to the state. In 2016, lawyers representing a legal aid group were asked to leave after being labeled Maoists and Maoist sympathizers.