NHRC notifies Karnataka government about “rape, murder” by Hubballi Minor, DGP of defendant’s death in “police encounter”

Police officers at the crime scene were killed while escaped in Hubballi on April 14, 2025. A man murdered a five-year-old girl and was killed in police shooting. Image source: PTI

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on April 30, 2025 (NHRC) that it had issued a notice to the Karnataka government and the state police chief asking it to report allegations of kidnapping, rape and killing of a girl and the death of the accused in a “police encounter” in Hubballi.

The NHRC said in a statement that the report is expected to be conducted within four weeks, including a “mortem examination” and a “referee report” of the two deceased.

The NHRC took “a report on the media, media reports on the kidnapping, rape and murder of underage girls and the death of the defendant arrested in a police encounter in Hubballi, Karnataka. The incident reportedly took place on April 14.”

The committee observed that the contents of the news report, if true, indicate “serious violations of the human rights of the underage girl in the victim and the arrested suspects were killed in the suspected encounter”.

Therefore, the NHRC has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and Director-General of the Karnataka Police Department to seek detailed reports within four weeks.

According to a media report published shortly after the release of the girl’s body on April 14, people protested outside the Ashok Nagar police station, demanding the arrest of the defendant, the statement said.

It added: “He was reportedly caught by police within hours of the incident and was questioned while trying to attack them, resulting in gunshot wounds that resulted in his death.”